Shirley Bassey Quotes

You want success, and then when you do get it, you don't want it because of the attention.

I learned by standing in the wings and watching established acts on stage.

I was a wild kid. I was left to climb trees. And you know those railways logs, they piled them up, six feet apart, and I'd jump from one to the other. Without a safety net! I was an incredible tomboy.

I decided to retire from show business at the age of 17, because I didn't like it a bit.

I'm too busy putting my energies into my performance to be a diva.

Diamonds never leave you ... men do!

You don't get older, you get better.

I hate it when people come up to me when I'm eating.

I've always been the breadwinner and men don't like that. They turn on you. They bite the hand that feeds them. Eventually, too, they become very jealous of the love one has with an audience.

I'm always being asked if I watch 'The X Factor,' and I do from time to time. I know it makes for great TV and that Simon Cowell has a real gift.

It's hard for a man to live with a successful woman - they seem to resent you so much. Very few men are generous enough to accept success in their women.

I wanted to be a model; I wanted to be a nurse; I wanted to be so many things, almost anything but being part of show business.

I'm not getting old. I'm getting better.