Maria Callas Quotes & Sayings

Don't talk to me about rules, dear. Wherever I stay I make the goddam rules. — Maria Callas

I am not an angel and do not pretend to be. That is not one of my roles. But I am not the devil either. I am a woman and a serious artist, and I would like so to be judged. — Maria Callas

[During fee negotiations for singing in Vienna:] I'm not interested in money, but it must be more than anyone else gets. — Maria Callas

Good teachers make the best of a pupil's means; great teachers foresee a pupil's ends. — Maria Callas

I cannot switch my voice. My voice is not like an elevator going up and down. — Maria Callas

On stage, I am in the dark. — Maria Callas

When I did not become enemies, then I understand that there was nothing standing. — Maria Callas

Paris dictates fashion to the whole world. — Maria Callas

If I have stepped on some people at times because I am at the top, it couldn't be helped. What should I do if someone gets hurt ... retire? — Maria Callas

What is there in life if you do not work? There is only sensation, and there are only a few sensations - you cannot live on them. You can only live on work, by work, through work. How can you live with self-respect if you do not do things as well as lies in you? — Maria Callas

You are born an artist or you are not. And you stay an artist, dear, even if your voice is less of a fireworks. The artist is always there.
— Maria Callas

I was always too mature for my age - and not very happy. I had no young friends. I wish I could go back to those days. If I could only live it all again, how I would play and enjoy other girls. What a fool I was. — Maria Callas

I would like to be Maria, but there is La Callas who demands that I carry myself with her dignity. — Maria Callas

Only my dogs will not betray me. — Maria Callas

Love is so much better when you're not married. — Maria Callas

I want to be a mature artist with a different kind of thinking. — Maria Callas

First I lost my voice, then I lost my figure and then I lost Onassis. — Maria Callas

It's a terrible thing to go through life thinking that you have a rock on your side when you haven't. — Maria Callas

There must be a law against forcing children to perform at an early age. Children should have a wonderful childhood. They should not be given too much responsibility. — Maria Callas

Only when I was singing did I feel loved. — Maria Callas

I admire Tebaldi's tone; it's beautiful - also some beautiful phrasing. Sometimes, I actually wish I had her voice. — Maria Callas

- Who would carry the bell canto
- Of course Montserrat Caballe — Maria Callas

My poor sight gives me an advantage. I can't see the people in the audience who are scratching their heads while I am lost in my role and giving everything I have to the drama. — Maria Callas

I belong to the givers. I want to give a little happiness even if I haven't had much for myself. Music has enriched my life and, hopefully - through me, a little - the public's. If anyone left an opera house feeling more happy and at peace, I achieved my purpose. — Maria Callas

Women are not pals enough with men, so we must make ourselves indispensable. After all, we have the greatest weapon in our hands by just being women. — Maria Callas

I don't need the money, dear. I work for art. — Maria Callas

The public is a monster and that is why I am not eager to return to the stage. — Maria Callas

I prepare myself for rehearsals like I would for marriage. — Maria Callas

What [Tulio Serafin] said that impressed me was: "When one wants to find a gesture, when you want to find how to act on stage, all you have to do is listen to the music. The composer has already seen to that." If you take the trouble to really listen with your soul and with your ears - and I say soul and ears because the mind must work, but not too much also - you will find every gesture there. And it is all true, you know. — Maria Callas

I will not be sued! I have the voice of an angel! — Maria Callas

Love is so much better when you are not married. — Maria Callas

I will always be as difficult as necessary to achieve the best, — Maria Callas

When the curtain rises, the only thing that speaks is courage. — Maria Callas

To sing is an expression of your being, a being which is becoming. — Maria Callas

I don't know what happens to me on stage. Something else seems to take over. — Maria Callas

I would not kill my enemies, but I will make them get down on their knees. I will, I can, I must. — Maria Callas

It takes a little more time to get into the role, but not very much more. In making a record you don't have the sense of projection over a distance as in an opera house. We have this
microphone and this magnifies all details of a performance, all exaggerations. In the theater, you can get away with a very large, very grand phrase. For the microphone, you have to tone it
down. It's the same as making a film, your gestures will be seen in close-up, so they cannot be exaggerated as they would be in a theater. — Maria Callas

When music fails to agree to the ear, to soothe the ear and the heart and the senses, then it has missed the point. — Maria Callas

Real friends are very special, but you have to be careful because sometimes you have a friend and you think they are made of rock, then suddenly you realise they're only made of sand. — Maria Callas

ART is domination. It's making people think that for that precise moment in time there is only one way, one voice. Yours. — Maria Callas

An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I've left the opera house. — Maria Callas

Don't come to me with your troubles. I have to work for my money and you are young enough to work too. If you can't make enough money to live on you can jump out of the window or drown yourself. — Maria Callas

When my enemies stop hissing, I shall know I'm slipping. — Maria Callas

Some say I have a beautiful voice, some say I have not. It is a matter of opinion. All I can say, those who don't like it shouldn't come to hear me. — Maria Callas

First I lost weight, then I lost my voice, and now I've lost Onassis. — Maria Callas