Merman Quotes & Sayings

I can never remember being afraid of an audience. If the audience could do better, they'd be up here on stage and I'd be out there watching them. — Ethel Merman

But it hadn't just been Sebastian who had been watching me. Rather, it had been tribes of merman and mermaids, who had been curious about this newcomer in town that could outswim any school of small fish. — Keira D. Skye

Broadway has been very good to me. But then, I've been very good to broadway. — Ethel Merman

Any audience that gets a laugh out of me gets it while I'm facing them. — Ethel Merman

[Cole Porter] sang like a hinge. — 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

Mom and Pop were proud of my popularity, but from their point of view, show business was no way to make a living. — Ethel Merman

Ethel Merman would stay with a show for years and tour with it. So would Mary Martin, the great stars. They recognized the value of that success and nurtured it. Now, you come from Hollywood, you play 12 weeks and go away. I don't think that's the best policy. — Harold Prince

Under the sea, the merman feast on starfish soup and all the serving men are crabs. — George R R Martin

Mary Martin was Broadway's biggest closet king. Everyone thought Ethel (Merman) was butch and maybe a lesbian, but she wasn't. And everyone thought that lovely little Mary was Miss Femme, and she was
except next to her gay husband. In other words, don't judge a star by her cover. — Bob Fosse

There was a bounty on my head, it was four days before Christmas, and I was having turtle gumbo with a merman, an undead pirate king, two loups-garou, and my best friend - a human pregnant with the half-elven child who had unknowingly helped set this whole debacle in motion. Plus a newbie vampire who didn't like the smell of food anymore. — Suzanne Johnson

I have plenty of invitations to go places, lots to do. If I'm not working, I go to have my hair taken care of and work at needlepoint. — Ethel Merman

Now what kind of an attitude is that, 'These things happen?' They only happen because this whole country is just full of people who, when these things happen, they just say, 'These things happen,' and that's why they happen! We gotta have control of what happens to us. — Ethel Merman

My father taught me to read music and play the piano-but not well, even though people have said that I'm a natural musician. — Ethel Merman

So the merman cannot belong to Agnes unless, after having made the infinite movement, the movement of repentance, he makes still one more movement by virtue of the absurd. — Soren Kierkegaard

Serafina, Ava, Ling, and Becca swam inside. Neela followed them, but at the very last second, shield. "I can't," she said. "Once I go in, there's no way out again. This is real. You're real. All this time, a part of me was hoping you were only a dream."

The witch cocked her head. "Only a dream?" she said mockingly. "Long ago, a great mage dreamed of stealing the gods' powers. Abbadon was born of that dream. Atlantis died because of it. Now, because of a new dreamer, all the waters of the world may fall. There is nothing more real than a dream." She nodded at the waters behind Neela. Silt was rising in the distance, a great deal of it. "The merman Traho knows this. He's coming. If you do not believe me, perhaps he can convince you. — Jennifer Donnelly

Cole Porter wrote Anything Goes and four more hits for me. — Ethel Merman

Of my four marriages, the one to Bob Levitt is the only one I don't regret. — Ethel Merman

Up the still, glistening beaches,
Up the creeks we will hie,
Over banks of bright seaweed
The ebb-tide leaves dry.
We will gaze, from the sand-hills,
At the white, sleeping town;
At the church on the hill-side
And then come back down.
Singing: There dwells a loved one,
But cruel is she!
She left lonely for ever
The kings of the sea.
(from poem 'The Forsaken Merman') — Matthew Arnold

Cole Porter had a worldwide reputation as a sophisticate and hedonist. — Ethel Merman

So," Tristan said with an odd grin. "This is my home."
Seth looked at Armara, who blinked at him. "It's ... big," Seth said slowly.
Armara laughed quietly and bumped her should against his arm. "It is that." ...
Tristan snorted and shook his head. "I'd make a joke along the lines of, 'well if you think this is big,'" ...
Nothing like a dick joke to bring people together. — Carrie Ann Ryan

The slapdash way producers used to assemble a show seems a little unbelievable when we talk about them now. — 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

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

Compared to me, everyone has normal relationships.'
Sera laughed. 'Right. Especially me. I'm the queen of normal relationships. The merman I love is about to marry someone else. We have to pretend to hate each other. And his future wife is trying to kill me. Totally normal. — Jennifer Donnelly

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

Maybe he's an exotic dancer. He must be used to walking around with that monstrosity dangling like that. Stop looking at it. — Monica La Porta

First, there will be no kidnapping. I know you're stronger and bigger and have magic and crap, but I'm drawing the line at kidnapping. — Carrie Ann Ryan

I worshipped Ethel Merman and I worshipped Ethel Merman a lot. It's incredible - Ethel Merman was a conventional singer. Her naming her child Ethel Merman, Jr., was, to me, one of the coolest feminist things. — Beth Ditto

I have been ambitious to be a somebody from the time I was 5 years old. — 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

I remember Tallulah (Bankhead) telling of going into a public ladies' room and discovering there was no toilet tissue. She looked underneath the booth and said to the lady in the next stall, 'I beg your pardon, do you happen to have any toilet tissue in there?' The lady said no. So Tallulah said, 'Well, then, dahling, do you have two fives for a ten?' — Ethel Merman

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

I Got Rhythm really put me on the map. — 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

Great seaweed! She thought. What possessed me to bite that poor merman's arm? Gahhh. One kiss and I'm a - a flesh-eating monster? Seriously? — Brenda Pandos

So does that mean we get Eric, too?" Willa said. "Because Eric is definitely hot, and if I had my choice I'd take Eric over some white-haired king merman any day. — Ridley Pearson

I've never suffered stage fright. That fascinates people. — Ethel Merman

The sea had jeeringly kept his finite body up, but drowned the infinite of his soul. Not drowned entirely, though. Rather carried down alive to wondrous depths, where strange shapes of the unwarped primal world glided to and fro before his passive eyes; and the miser-merman, Wisdom, revealed his hoarded heaps; and among the joyous, heartless, ever-juvenile eternities, Pip saw the multitudinous, God-omnipresent, coral insects, that out of the firmament of waters heaved the colossal orbs. He saw God's foot upon the treadle of the loom, and spoke it; and therefore his shipmates called him mad. So man's insanity is heaven's sense; and wandering from all mortal reason, man comes at last to that celestial thought, which, to reason, is absurd and frantic; and weal or woe, feels then uncompromised, indifferent as his God. — Herman Melville

You'll never prove you're too good for a job by not doing your best. — Ethel Merman

The cut, which the merman had placed on my hip, was shimmering with a soft, almost transparent, lavender glow. Like a stained-glass window, it refracted any light that touched it into lavender shimmers. — Meaghan Rauscher

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

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

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

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

Be yourself
it's the one thing you can do better than anyone else. — Ethel Merman

Yep. His epic good looks without succumbing to the adorable label had made him a man-unicorn in my mind. Or a merman. Or a Loch Ness Monstman. He was a mystical creature. — Penny Reid

I'll admit - I was honored to be on the cover of Time. — Ethel Merman

Who's happy these days? — Ethel Merman

I am known to be able to take care of myself when I become angry. I don't mince words. — Ethel Merman

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

If you do a musical, it's really thrilling and it's a lot of work, but it's very rewarding. I would say, for me, what I like best is what I do, which is, I call it vaudeville, I call it live, I call it in concert, I call it what Bette Midler does, and what Garland did for years, and Ethel Merman. — Debbie Reynolds

I preferred delivering my performance in person. I liked to be in control. You couldn't be in films. — Ethel Merman

My career at Warner Brothers consisted of one musical short subject. I was running around in a bear skin. Very chic. — Ethel Merman

Once I had all the attention, all I had to do was deliver. — Ethel Merman

In my case, things have pretty much been handed to me. — Ethel Merman

I'm screaming for help and everybody's acting as if I'm singing Ethel Merman covers ... — David Foster Wallace

I've made a wonderful living playing that theatrical character - the professional brassy dame. — Ethel Merman

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

Everything's coming up roses - for me. — Ethel Merman

I mentioned that I was thinking of getting out of the business after Call Me Madam. I thought maybe I should become a homebody. — Ethel Merman

I take a breath when I have to. — 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

The three theater peeps I would love to dine with are Mel Brooks, because he is so funny; Stephen Sondheim, because he is a god-like genius; and Ethel Merman, to compare notes on fabulous belting. — Nancy Allen

I leaned down and looked at his handsome face. I wanted to kiss him in a way that would remain soft and true on his lips, all the while help him from escaping the overwhelming sense of sadnes that he felt. I pressed forward and kissed him, tasting the saltiness of fish against his lips, and the disappointment that he held so very deeply inside. I kissed him long and wide, yet limp and yielding, pulling myself away from reality to only drown in the fantasy of our love. I touched his mouth in such a loving way, that not even his incapability to reach into my soul, could tear us away from exchanging such romance. He immediately gave into the kiss, his sadness slowly giving way to the moment that we so intimately shared. It amazed me what a merman could do, even when flowing tears streamed down his face. Through the bridge of kissing, I had healed him, and he had healed me in return. — Keira D. Skye

You were given a task by the Lord and Lady of High Heaven themselves. Quit now, and forsake all Grens who care for peace. Rise, and create a legend that will live on longer than you. Make your choice, Nicholes Merman. Rise or fall. — Ethan Melman

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

I wouldn't trust any man as far as you can throw a piano. — 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

When I'm asked how to succeed in show business, I always say I haven't the foggiest. — Ethel Merman

Musicals have clearly gotten more physical. You never saw Ethel Merman doing step aerobics. — Bruce Vilanch

I work as often as I want and yet I'm free as a bird. — Ethel Merman

I don't want you two hurt because of me." ...
"At least try, sweetling. Please." At her slight nod, he did what came natural and lowered his head. She gasped into his mouth, and he pressed his lips to hers. The electric shock between them only pushed him to kiss her deeper ...
"I think I can try if you're going to keep kissing me like that," she finally said, and he grinned. — Carrie Ann Ryan

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

My beloved Mom and Pop always rated tops with each other, and that's the way it will always be. — Ethel Merman

I attend surprisingly few shows. The type of theater that is popular today just doesn't appeal to me. — Ethel Merman

This angered me. "Nothing has changed!?!?" I screamed at him. I was furious with him. He had duped me. "Your a mermaid! Your a freak!"
Calling him a freak hurt his feelings. "I am the same boy you fell in love with. I can't help who I was born as, but that doesn't affect the boy in which I want to be."
"And what is that?" I asked, really emotional right now.
"A boy who wants to be given the chance to love you."
With these tender words, I instantly ran into his arms. "Oh Trysten, I don't care who you are, or what you can become, but I love you for loving me. — Keira D. Skye

He looked steadily in my eyes, and held my hand affectionally. Narissa, let me take you away to a world that you have never known to exist. — Keira D. Skye

Music, in the past few years ... anything singable or understandable is square. — Ethel Merman

You gotta have a gimmick. — Ethel Merman