Lena Horne Quotes


"Always be smarter than the people who hire you."
- Lena Horne
(Related: People)

"As much as I try, when I open my mouth, Lena comes out, And I get so mad."
- Lena Horne
(Related: Open)

"Don't be afraid to feel as angry or as loving as you can, because when you feel nothing, it's just death."
- Lena Horne
(Related: Death, Nothing)

"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."
- Lena Horne
(Related: Nationality, Respect)

"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."
- Lena Horne
(Related: Hollywood, Imitation, Woman)

"I made a promise to myself to be kinder to other people."
- Lena Horne
(Related: People, Promise)

"I really do hate to sing."
- Lena Horne
(Related: Hate)

"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."
- Lena Horne
(Related: Time, Feeling, Pain)

"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."
- Lena Horne
(Related: Television, Years)

"I'm still learning, you know. At 80, I feel there is a lot I don't know."
- Lena Horne
(Related: Learning)

"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."
- Lena Horne
(Related: Time, Man)

"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."
- Lena Horne
(Related: Credit, First, Symbol)

"It's so nice to get flowers while you can still smell the fragrance."
- Lena Horne
(Related: Flowers)

"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."
- Lena Horne
(Related: People, Consciousness)

"My identity is very clear to me now, I am a black woman."
- Lena Horne
(Related: Identity, Now, Woman)

"You have to be taught to be second class; you're not born that way."
- Lena Horne
(Related: Class)

"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."
- Lena Horne
(Related: Life, Beginning, Day)

"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."
- Lena Horne
(Related: Peace, Time, Heart, Influence)