We never had a bathtub. Mom would bathe me in the wooden or tin washtub in the kitchen, or in a big lard can. – 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
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
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
No punishment has ever possessed enough power of deterrence to prevent the commission of crimes. On the contrary, whatever the punishment, once a specific crime has appeared for the first time, its reappearance is more likely than its initial emergence could ever have been. – Hannah Arendt