Opera is dead. It's outdated. And there's nothing you can do about it to change it. As singers if the composer did something bad, it's your responsibility to give it some coloratura, but that's all you can do. #MariaCallas

I am embarrassed by compliments. I cannot have the same perception of myself as the public has. I cannot judge myself and I have a hard time realizing what I have done. But if you manage to persuade and to thrill the public then you have won. #MariaCallas

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

Music should be essentially simple and upon simplicity and beauty of line it can become great. #MariaCallas

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. #MariaCallas

Trills are necessary and they have to be well performed. Take Trovatore; Verdi and Donizetti used a lot of trills. They used them to express feelings so a trill is necessary as a technical skill for an interpreter. #MariaCallas

The only thing I can say is that people who don't like me can just not come and hear me. #MariaCallas

Even though I did not like my voice I learned to accept it and to be detached and objective. My voice is unique as is everyone’s. It is not how we sing but the uniqueness we bring – like the way we walk or talk…one’s own unique persona. #MariaCallas

When you learn to really become a musician after a singer, you have to put your instrument to the service of music. #MariaCallas

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." #MariaCallas

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. #MariaCallas

What am I? Is she only machines singing? No, she's a human being. I need help too. Life they say is terrible. Of course life is terrible, if we make it that way. #MariaCallas

The public is a monster and that is why I am not eager to return to the stage. #MariaCallas

The critics said that I was tired at the end of Traviata but I took it as a compliment because I struggled to find this tired quality for her and it's dangerous. #MariaCallas

I don’t like listening to myself – I don’t like the kind of voice I have. #MariaCallas

I would not kill my enemies, but I will make them get down on their knees. I will, I can, I must. #MariaCallas

The full dress rehearsal, so there's no stopping unless it's something terribly, just like a performance with the critics, so you sing throughout with no interruption as it was a performance. #MariaCallas

I don't know what happens to me on stage. Something else seems to take over. #MariaCallas

To sing is an expression of your being, a being which is becoming. #MariaCallas

Opera is dead. It's outdated. And there's nothing you can do about it to change it. As singers if the composer did something bad, it's your responsibility to give it some coloratura, but that's all you can do. #MariaCallas