Quotes from book
Lady Sings the Blues

Name: Lady Sings the Blues
Author: Billie Holiday

Lady Sings the Blues is an autobiography by jazz singer Billie Holiday, which was co-authored by William Dufty. The book formed the basis of the 1972 film Lady Sings the Blues starring Diana Ross.

“No two people on earth are alike, and it's got to be that way in music or it isn't music.”

Billie Holiday book Lady Sings the Blues

Source: Lady Sings the Blues (1956), Ch. 4.

“I'm always making a comeback but nobody ever tells me where I've been.”

Billie Holiday book Lady Sings the Blues

Source: Lady Sings the Blues (1956), Ch. 23.

“In this country, don’t forget, a habit is no damn private hell. There’s no solitary confinement outside of jail. A habit is hell for those you love. And in this country it’s the worst kind of hell for those who love you.”

Billie Holiday book Lady Sings the Blues

Source: Lady Sings the Blues (1956), Ch. 24.

“Somebody once said we never know what is enough until we know what's more than enough.”

Billie Holiday book Lady Sings the Blues

Source: Lady Sings the Blues (1956), Ch. 20.

“You can be up to your boobies in white satin, with gardenias in your hair and no sugar cane for miles, but you can still be working on a plantation.”

Billie Holiday book Lady Sings the Blues

Source: Lady Sings the Blues (1956), Ch. 11.

“You can't copy anybody and end with anything. If you copy, it means you're working without any real feeling. No two people on earth are alike, and it's got to be that way in music or it isn't music.”

Billie Holiday book Lady Sings the Blues

Variant: Everyones got to be different. You can't copy anybody and end up with anything. If you copy, it means you're working without any real feeling. And without feeling, whatever you do amounts to nothing.
Source: Lady Sings the Blues

“I can’t stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession, let alone two years or ten years. If you can, then it ain’t music, it’s close-order drill or exercise or yodeling or something, not music.”

Billie Holiday book Lady Sings the Blues

Source: Lady Sings the Blues (1956), Ch. 4.

“Imagine if the government chased sick people with diabetes, put a tax on insulin and drove it into the black market, told doctors they couldn’t treat them, and then caught them, prosecuted them for not paying their taxes, and then sent them to jail. If we did that, everyone would know we were crazy. Yet we do practically the same thing every day in the week to sick people hooked on drugs. The jails are full and the problem is getting worse every day.”

Billie Holiday book Lady Sings the Blues

Source: Lady Sings the Blues (1956), Ch. 17.

“I've been told that nobody sings the word "hunger" like I do. Or the word "love."”

Billie Holiday book Lady Sings the Blues

Source: Lady Sings the Blues (1956), Ch. 22.

“If you think dope is for kicks and for thrills, you’re out of your mind. There are more kicks the fuck to be had in a good case of paralytic polio or by living in an iron lung. If you think you need stuff to play music or sing, you’re crazy. It can fix you so you can’t play nothing or sing nothing.”

Billie Holiday book Lady Sings the Blues

Source: Lady Sings the Blues (1956), Ch. 23.