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Free Literature Study Guides
The Great Gatsby
Hamlet

Free Literature Study Guides
The Great Gatsby
Hamlet

Ethel Merman Quotes

Broadway has been very good to me. But then, I’ve been very good to broadway.

– Ethel Merman

Eisenhower was my war hero and the President I admire and respect most.

– Ethel Merman

There have been people who have tried to take advantage of me. They want to be linked to me just because I’m Ethel Merman.

– Ethel Merman

Music, in the past few years… anything singable or understandable is square.

– Ethel Merman

Christmas carols always brought tears to my eyes. I also cry at weddings. I should have cried at a couple of my own.

– Ethel Merman

Everything’s coming up roses – for me.

– Ethel Merman

I’ll admit – I was honored to be on the cover of Time.

– Ethel Merman

I can hold a note as long as the Chase National Bank.

– Ethel Merman

Always give them the old fire, even when you feel like a squashed cake of ice.

– Ethel Merman

If I feel in need of sleep, I just open a book or turn on the television. Both are better than any sleeping pill.

– Ethel Merman

At one time I smoked, but in 1959 I couldn’t think of anything else to give up for Lent so I stopped – and I haven’t had a cigarette since.

– Ethel Merman

There’s such a thing as theater discipline. One player doesn’t appropriate another’s inventions.

– Ethel Merman

At a flea market I always head for the junk jewelry table first.

– Ethel Merman

I wasn’t straining at the bit to become a movie star any more than I had plotted to get out of vaudeville and into Broadway musicals.

– Ethel Merman

Of my four marriages, the one to Bob Levitt is the only one I don’t regret.

– Ethel Merman

Legend has it that when God created me, he gave me a big distinctive voice, a lot of boldness and no heart.

– Ethel Merman

You gotta have a gimmick.

– Ethel Merman

I don’t like to read. The only things I read are gossip columns. If someone gives me a book, it had better have lots of pictures.

– Ethel Merman

When you are in deep conflict about something, sometimes the most trivial thing can tip the scales.

– Ethel Merman

I’ll pat myself on the back and admit I have talent. Beyond that, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

– Ethel Merman

I was lucky enough to have the songs in my first show written by George and Ira Gershwin. Then Cole Porter wrote five shows for me.

– Ethel Merman

I was born in my parents’ bedroom on January 16. The World Almanac says it was 1909. I say it was 1912. But what difference does it make as long as I feel 33?

– Ethel Merman

I’ve never cooked. I can’t do much more in the kitchen than make a cup of tea and some toast.

– Ethel Merman

Mom claimed that I could carry a tune at 2 or 3 years of age. Maybe she was a little prejudiced.

– Ethel Merman

As far as dramas are concerned, it’s considered passe for playwrights to turn out anything the average person can understand.

– Ethel Merman

I wouldn’t change one thing about my professional life, and I make it a point not to dwell on my mistakes.

– Ethel Merman