Quotes by Josephine Baker

“I'm not intimidated by anyone. Everyone is made with two arms, two legs, a stomach and a head. Just think about that.”

“I wanted to get far away from those who believed in cruelty, so then I went to France, a land of true freedom, democracy, equality and fraternity.”

“God dislikes evil, and no happiness can be built on hate. Love one another as brothers.”

“Surely the day will come when color means nothing more than the skin tone, when religion is seen uniquely as a way to speak one's soul, when birth places have the weight of a throw of the dice and ...”

“The hate directed against the colored people here in St. Louis has always given me a sad feeling because when I was a little girl I remember the horror of the East St. Louis race riot.”

“You must get an education. You must go to school, and you must learn to protect yourself. And you must learn to protect yourself with the pen, and not the gun.”

“All my life, I have maintained that the people of the world can learn to live together in peace if they are not brought up in prejudice.”

“When I was a child and they burned me out of my home, I was frightened and I ran away. Eventually I ran far away. It was to a place called France. Many of you have been there, and many have not. Bu...”

“I believe if the white and colored people could get together and be let alone, they would understand each other and consequently love each other.”

“Each time I leaped I seemed to touch the sky and when I regained earth it seemed to be mine alone.”

“I have stage contracts for the next 18 months, and I shall go on with them whatever he says.”

“France made me what I am. I will be grateful forever. The people of Paris have given me everything. They have given me their hearts, and I have given them mine. I am ready, captain, to give them my...”

“First, I want to do what I can to help win the war and thus perform whatever duty I can for my native land. Second, I want to help those of my own race. I am doing all I can to help win the war eff...”

“I cannot see that I did anything extraordinary to merit this honor. Everything was just as it had to be.”

“I want you to know that this is the happiest day of my entire life. And as you all must know, I have had a very long life and I'm sixty years old. The results today of seeing you all together is a ...”

“I believe in action. … I believe in doing rather than talking. All my life I have maintained that the people of the world can learn to live together in peace if they are not brought up in prejudice...”

“Surely the day will come when color means nothing more than skin tone, when religion is seen uniquely as a way to speak one’s soul; when birth places have the weight of a throw of the dice and all ...”

“Josephine Baker is a St. Louis washwoman’s daughter who stepped out of a Negro burlesque show into a life of adulation and luxury in Paris during the booming 1920s. In sex appeal to jaded Europeans...”

“She broke down barriers … She became part of the hearts and minds of French people ... Josephine Baker, you enter the Pantheon because while you were born American, deep down there was no one more ...”