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" 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! "

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" The world changes. The world is completely different now from when I was growing up. Back then, you didn't say things like they say now, out loud, about race and things. But that's just progress. When are we going to find out that we're all the same - we're all absolutely, without a doubt, the same? "

" When I do an album I try to find a producer that's excited about something that they want me to sing, and I check with the record company to find out what they think they can sell - which is their No. 1 priority. "

" 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. "

" First, I try to take everything away that doesn't matter to singing. It sounds simplistic, but it works. There is absolute focus on singing: producing sounds and emotions that I have always enjoyed. This is key. "

" I've paid the price over the years, though: a lot of injuries and surgeries related to my sports career; my hips and knees took a lot of wear and tear. "

" Nat was my hero right from the very beginning. My dad brought his music into the house and played it over and over again. "

" I always felt like what I was doing wasn't selling toys; I was making a happy sound at Christmas. When people hear something so familiar, it brings them back to a special place, and that's been meaningful for me. "

" 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. "

" I decided right away that whomever was going to advise me had to be fundamentally interested in music. This protected me from the skullduggery common to the music industry then and that still exists today. Of course, using this method meant that some things we didn't know and just had to learn how to do it together. "

" I'd rather starve than not have what I really want to eat. I'm good at preparation. "

" I've had relationships with people from all over the world, but there has never been enough time in a day for me to have anything other than just close relationships. I've never been one to give myself over to anybody. I don't know what is wrong with me, but it never happened. "

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

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

" You know the secret to dunking a ball? Big hands. You've got to be able to palm it, and I couldn't. "

" 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. "

" My mom loved my Christmas music, so I did an awful lot of it! "

" 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. "

" Dad would come home from doing odd jobs, and sometimes he'd come home late at night with lumber, and he'd rumble around with all this wood in our small place. We'd finish putting it away, and then we'd play that piano. I'll be eternally grateful to him. "

" I really, really enjoy music and that's why I do what I do. "

" I always have homemade chicken stock in the refrigerator. I'll reduce it, maybe add a little cream and a few shallots. Before you know it, eureka! It's the best. "

" The thing that means most to me is the joy that my mom and my dad got because of my career... They raised seven children on domestic wages, in a city like San Francisco, and did nothing but work, work, work. "

" As long as those things are on vinyl or tape or what have you, the record companies are going to release them someday. "

" But I am very grateful for my success, and with success, of course, comes a whole lot of celebrity. "

" There are situations when, in your singing, in your interpretation of songs, for instance, when you want a straight tone. And I have to work really hard at getting a straight tone... That's sort of like if you have curly hair, you have curly hair. "

" As a child, all I knew was that people kept asking me to sing, and because I liked to please, I would sing. It wasn't until my dad told me that my singing made him happy that I began to think my voice might be good. "

" I also met, early on Ella Fitzgerald. Her songbooks are some of the most amazing bodies of work. "

" 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. "

" 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. "