Lena Horne Quotes

I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept. I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked.

(quoted from Brian Lanker`s book "I Dream A World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America", New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1986)) My own people didn`t see me as a performer because they were busy trying to make a living and feed themselves. Until I got to café society in the `40s, I didn`t even have a black audience and then it was mixed. I was always battling the system to try to get to be with my people. Finally, I wouldn`t work for places that kept us out . . . it was a damn fight everywhere I was, every place I worked, in New York, in Hollywood, all over the world.

You have to be taught to be second class; you`re not born that way.

It`s not the load that breaks you down, it`s the way you carry it.

Always be smarter than the people who hire you.

A little nepotism never hurt nobody, honey. If you got it, use it. Press on with it. Remind them of it.

In my early days I was a sepia Hedy Lamarr. Now I`m black and a woman, singing my own way.

I was lucky, as many of my generation was, in having a man like Dr. King in our lives. He came at a time that we needed to take a long look at each other and see how similar we were.

As much as I try, when I open my mouth, Lena comes out, And I get so mad.

Don`t be afraid to feel as angry or as loving as you can, because when you feel nothing, it`s just death.

My identity is very clear to me now, I am a black woman.

Every color I can think of and nationality, we were all touched by Dr. King because he made us like each other and respect each other.

It`s not the load that breaks you down, it`s the way you carry it.

I told them I belong to the same organizations and clubs Mrs. Roosevelt belongs to, but with a few brave exceptions, I was still unable to do films or television for the next seven years.

Malcolm X raised my consciousness about myself and my people and other people more than any person I know. I knew him before he became Malcolm X.

I made a promise to myself to be kinder to other people.

I don`t have to be an imitation of a white woman that Hollywood sort of hoped I`d become. I`m me, and I`m like nobody else.

I really do hate to sing.

Malcolm X made me very strong at a time I needed to understand what I was angry about. He had peace in his heart. He exerted a big influence on me.

I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept. I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked.

I`m still learning, you know. At 80, I feel there is a lot I don`t know.

After I got over the terrible pain of having something of mine taken from me, I began to think how bad everybody else must be feeling. It wasn`t a nice time.

Young people today would get a great deal of encouragement from knowing how close we could be if we had a man like Dr. King around.

I`m not alone, I`m free. I no longer have to be a credit, I don`t have to be a symbol to anybody; I don`t have to be a first to anybody.

It`s so nice to get flowers while you can still smell the fragrance.

You have to be taught to be second class; you`re not born that way.

I want to sing like Aretha Franklin. Before her I wanted the technical ability of Ella Fitzgerald.

Always be smarter than the people who hire you.

A little nepotism never hurt nobody, honey. If you got it, use it. Press on with it. Remind them of it.

I remember the day tDr. King died. I wasn`t angry at the beginning. It was like something very personal in my life had been touched and finished.

(quoted from Brian Lanker`s book "I Dream A World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America", New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1986)) My own people didn`t see me as a performer because they were busy trying to make a living and feed themselves. Until I got to café society in the `40s, I didn`t even have a black audience and then it was mixed. I was always battling the system to try to get to be with my people. Finally, I wouldn`t work for places that kept us out . . . it was a damn fight everywhere I was, every place I worked, in New York, in Hollywood, all over the world.

In my early days I was a sepia Hedy Lamarr. Now I`m black and a woman, singing my own way.