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" I have one room off my kitchen filled with nothing but cookbooks and recipes that are sent to me from around the world. Every two years, I have to go through them and pick out ones to send to the local schools. There's a need for books, especially cookbooks. "

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" I have no memories of my childhood in Texas. When I was about four, we moved to San Francisco. I was in the middle of seven brothers and sisters: three girls and four boys. Most of my older brothers and sisters got the blame for everything, and the little ones had a free ride. We loved each other but fought like cats and dogs. "

Johnny Mathis

Ride

Cats

Childhood

" Most of our physical education teachers were just teachers, and they had to do the extra stuff on their own. I remember very vividly that they would hold a cane pole between two of the students down low, and we would all jump over it. And they would raise it and raise it and raise it. "

" I would say three-quarters of what I do depends on the sincerity of it. You can croak, but if you croak good, they'll still listen. "

" Sure, I've thought about retiring, but in my mind, if you can't sing the song anymore, change the song and sing a different one! "

" When you say, 'I'm going to sing it once, and everyone is going to hear it forever,' that's kind of frightening. "

" The voice muscle doesn't last forever. I have a lot of friends who are classical and opera singers. My friend Beverly Sills stopped singing in her 50s, so I'm careful with mine. But I'll keep going as long as it lets me. "

" I go to the gym rather early with a workout pal. I get there at 7, or a little before, and do weights and a little cardio for an hour, five days a week. "

Johnny Mathis

Early

Days

" I love the whole aspect of music, especially the singing; I never get tired of finding new songs to sing and sing them in a way that's interesting for the public. "

" Homosexuality is a way of life that I've grown accustomed to. "

" I think most people don't understand: I have nothing to do with that. I just open my mouth, and it comes out that way. "

" It's just that some people are lucky and people still seem to enjoy the music. "

" When I was 12 and started to take singing lessons from a woman, she told me that I would probably spend the rest of my life taking care of my voice. "

Johnny Mathis

Singing

Life

" I'm just one of the lucky people. I have no other reason for my longevity. "

" I've found that the more friends I have, the luckier I am. "

Johnny Mathis

I Am

Found

" I drank too much, only champagne. "

" I've had several unavoidable problems because of my athletic career. "

" I was always a little bit afraid because I found out at a very early age that once you make a record, all the mistakes and all the good things are there for eternity. "

" Along the way, everyone's been saying, 'Make sure you take care of your voice because you're going to want to do it the rest of your life.' And it's absolutely true. "

" It's very much like opera singers. They do the same thing. The first thing in the morning and the last thing at night, the thing they think about is their voice and how to take care of it. "

" I was a mediocre basketball player. But I was there, and I could remember the plays. And my basketball coach, after he retired from teaching, would come to my performances all the time. And I was very happy about that, because I was not memorable as a basketball player. "

" My mom and dad always tried to make Christmas special for us. We were poor, but it's funny because we had no idea. "

" I was very fortunate to have a wonderful woman as my voice coach when I started singing professionally. I was only 19, so now it's been 60 years! "

" I had stage fright for years and years, and I could hear it in my singing. But since I've done it so often for so many years, you'd think that I'd relax a little bit, and I think that I have. "

" I got an invitation to go to the Olympic trials. And in the same week, I got a telegram from a... big executive at Columbia Records. "

" When I got a chance, I went back and shared those experiences that were important to me. George Washington High, the campus at San Francisco State, and even back to Emerson Elementary school and Roosevelt Junior High. I was happy to do it, to go back and see if all the same teachers were there. "

Johnny Mathis

Chance

Happy

" At this stage, most of the awards I get are concerned with my longevity. Even I'm amazed at myself because there have been new generations since I've been born and new music that they create, so it's amazing to still be on the radar. "

" Christmas is never going to go away, and it's always going to be there. And there's always room for one more Christmas song, I think. "

" There was a time when I was in the South, singing, and someone came to me before the show and said, 'There's been a threat on your life. Someone had phoned in and said they were going to shoot you if you go on stage.' I was singing 'Chances Are,' and I kept moving so they wouldn't have a shot at me. "

" I've lost a few notes on the top. But I've gained a little insight about what makes people comfortable when they're listening or watching a performance of mine. It usually has to do with singing something that isn't vocally too strenuous. "

" I've found that if I limit my talking, just everyday talking, a couple of days before I have to sing, my voice is stronger. That really is about the only precaution that I take: I try to rest it as much as possible and keep the nutritional value of my food up. "