Top 60 Grace Jones Quotes

I was skinny as a rail and had high cheekbones and a very interesting face – or so I was told.

To be honest, my life is not really as way-out and myth-loaded as people like to portray it.

I’ve changed. I’m not worried about what people think, because I think people think what they want to think anyway.

Shock always sells. You know? But you could shock in good taste.

I don’t collaborate. You’re born alone, you die alone, you get on stage alone.

I’m not a rock star; I’m a soft person.

I never thought I was going to be a singer. That was an accident.

Models are there to look like mannequins, not like real people. Art and illusion are supposed to be fantasy.

I just go with the flow, I follow the yellow brick road. I don’t know where it’s going to lead me, but I follow it.

I’m always rebelling. I don’t think I’ll ever stop.

In the Seventies and Eighties we all had our fun, and now and then we went really too far. But, ultimately, it required a certain amount of clear thinking, a lot of hard work and good make-up to be accepted as a freak.

I was the only black girl at my junior high school. I had an afro, a Jamaican accent, I looked really old.

I’m too vain, one of my biggest sins, but it saved me; I can see what excess does.

There is some Eighties music that is just timeless. The melodies, the lyrics… I called it church. Church in club. You can shout and dance. The best of the Eighties was club church.

One creates oneself.

If you want me to work with you, then come with an idea. Come with music.

Hiding, secrets, and not being able to be yourself is one of the worst things ever for a person. It gives you low self-esteem. You never get to reach that peak in your life. You should always be able to be yourself and be proud of yourself.

I was born into a very religious family where everything was about setting the right example for the community and having to obey orders blindly. I felt that everyone was growing up in the world, except me. This is probably one of the reasons why I had such a rebellious attitude towards any form of authority.

I was a go-go dancer, too. I called myself ‘Grace Mendoza’ to fool my parents.

I had no childhood, really, so I imagined more than played, and that definitely led to my showbusiness image, the theatrics and the drama of my life.

I’m not as impatient as I used to be. I used to hit people if I didn’t like what they were saying. Just lash out. ‘Bam – shut up! Hahahah!’ I was terrible.

Fear is fear of fear, I think.

There will always be a replacement coming along very soon – a newer version, a crazier version, a louder version. So if you haven’t got a long-term plan, then you are merely a passing phase, the latest trend, yesterday’s event.

Rock n’ roll can get quite overwhelming. You can get caught up in the cycle.

I’ve turned down millions of dollars to go on reality TV. It’s an absolute no-go.

Women and men grow up with both sexes. Our mothers and fathers mean a lot to us, so it’s just a question of finding a balance between their influences. I’ve found mine. And it tends to be more on the male side. I mean male side the way we understand it in the West.

Even though the agency kept me pretty busy, I auditioned for every play and film I could find. But they all wanted a black American sound, and I just didn’t have it. Finally, I got tired of trotting around and took myself to Paris.

I don’t party now, and nobody really knows how to party with me anymore. So I stay in a lot. I really am a home person.

Religion has stayed with me even though I rebelled.

Normally, I stay away from politics – unless I’m going to run for president.

When I perform on stage I become those male bullies, those dominators from my childhood. That’s probably why it’s so scary, because they scared me.

The problem with the Dorises and the Nicki Minajes and Mileys is that they reach their goal very quickly. There is no long-term vision, and they forget that once you get into that whirlpool, then you have to fight the system that solidifies around you in order to keep being the outsider you claim you represent.

My brother used to get beaten up all the time because he was very effeminate.

I don’t take the English press seriously at all because all they want is dirt… I hate them.

You had to wear a hat to go to church. We weren’t allowed to straighten our hair. We couldn’t wear jewellery, nail polish, open backed shoes, skirts above the knee… trousers were forbidden because male apparel on a female was not godly.

My father would have been made a bishop much earlier than he was had it not been for me and my image.

I see myself as no color. I can play the role of a man. I can paint my face white if I want to and play the role of white. I can play a green, I can be a purple. I think I have that kind of frame and that kind of attitude where I can play an animal.

If people think I’m angry, I don’t want to burst anybody’s bubble. I like sometimes for people to be afraid of me. But it’s not really anger; it’s discipline.

People always like to make me seem taller than I am.

When I started modelling, I’d raise my arms and it was all muscle and all the other models had nothing. Really, everybody thought I was a man. I don’t have to do much to have muscles. It’s just genetic.

Most performers take themselves too seriously. They forget there is a difference between the characters they play on the screen or stage and themselves, but the public doesn’t forget there is a difference. They see how silly it is if you try to be the same person all the time.

I don’t wear jewelry, so I wear furs. I don’t have diamonds.

Gaga came to me, and I just could not find a soul. I come from church; maybe that has something to do with it. I like to get to the soul of a person. I just didn’t feel a soul.

Everyone has to make their own decisions. I still believe in that. You just have to be able to accept the consequences without complaining.

Yelling between people in love is normal.

I like to think of myself as a positive person. Otherwise I wouldn’t have had a child.

I don’t like people who hide things. We’re not perfect, we all have things that people might not like to see, and I like to show my faults.

I believe in individuality, that everybody is special, and it’s up to them to find that quality and let it live.

I have been so copied by those people who have made fortunes that people assume I am that rich. But I did things for the excitement, the dare, the fact that it was new, not for the money. And too many times I was the first, not the beneficiary.

I never do what anyone else is doing. I could walk away from music and become a farmer or do some crochet. The worst thing in life for me is to do something I’m not happy doing.

I like to experiment, and as an actress, I always thought it’s good to be open about a lot of things.

Human beings should stick together. Honestly, if I see a red-haired person with blue eyes now, I say, ‘Is your granny black?’

I don’t think ‘pop’ should mean that you had no talent.

It’s important that the sexes understand each other.

It was very painful combing my hair. My grand-uncle was a Pentecostal bishop, and he was very strict: our hair couldn’t be permed or straightened. So I just cut it all off.

My mother was a champion high-jumper. My three brothers are basketball players. We’ve all been very athletic.

When you become such a strong personality in music, it’s hard for people to accept you as a different character.

I am an actress first, a singer second.

I always thought that feminine, softer side was just too vulnerable to put out there, because then it’s like you’re opening up a door for everybody to come in, and you don’t know who’s going to come in that door.

I go feminine, I go masculine. I am both, actually. I think the male side is a bit stronger in me, and I have to tone it down sometimes. I’m not like a normal woman, that’s for sure.