Mom was the greatest influence of my childhood. She wanted to save me from the vice, lust, and drinking that was all about me. – Ethel Waters
Though I was excited about the Sojourner Truth play, it was not reassuring to think that my entire future might depend on the success of that one show. – Ethel Waters
Mom never quit on me. My only regret is that she didnt live long enough to share some of the money and comforts my work in show business has brought me. – Ethel Waters
I had always loved John Fords pictures. And I came to love him, too, but I was frightened to death working for him. He used the shock treatment while directing me. – Ethel Waters
Today, as in the Gilded Age, we live in a world where a morality of personal responsibility rubs shoulders with a culture of greed and of flagrant social irresponsibility. Now as then, business has shed its collective responsibility for employees – just as government has for its citizens. – Charles Derber