Whitney Houston's Most Memorable Quotes

Words of wisdom from the late icon.

Remembering Whitney

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Remembering Whitney - It's been 11 years since the entertainment world lost one of its most beloved icons and treasured voices in music — Whitney Houston. BET.com looks back at the woman and legend in pictures and in her own words.

Photo By Getty

On celebrity life: - "You wake up every day with a magnifying glass over you. Someone is always looking for something — somebody, somewhere is speaking your name every five seconds of the day, whether it's positive or negative."(Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

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On celebrity life: - "You wake up every day with a magnifying glass over you. Someone is always looking for something — somebody, somewhere is speaking your name every five seconds of the day, whether it's positive or negative."(Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

On race in pop music: - "I know what my color is. I was raised in a Black community with Black people, so that has never been a thing with me. Yet, I've gotten flack about being a pop success, but that doesn't mean that I'm white..... Pop music has never been all-white."(Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

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On race in pop music: - "I know what my color is. I was raised in a Black community with Black people, so that has never been a thing with me. Yet, I've gotten flack about being a pop success, but that doesn't mean that I'm white..... Pop music has never been all-white."(Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

Whitney Houston - In October 2011, Whitney engaged in an argument with flight personnel about buckling her seatbelt. After being threatened with being booted from the plane, the "I'm Every Woman" singer refused to do it herself, but did allow someone else to strap her in, and the flight proceeded without any more incidents. (Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

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On competition with other pop divas: - "They don't say I sound like Mariah Carey, they say Mariah Carey sounds like me, you dig what I'm saying? So I don't feel like I'm in competition with these people. Madonna and I certainly aren't in competition. Mary J. Blige — it's her own thing. She is the queen of hip hop."(Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

Photo By Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup

On her relationship with the camera: - "From the beginning, the camera and I were great friends. It loves me, and I love it."(Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

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On her relationship with the camera: - "From the beginning, the camera and I were great friends. It loves me, and I love it."(Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

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On becoming an actress: - "It's just an exciting part of the entertainment world that I could be good at."  (Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

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On becoming an actress: - "It's just an exciting part of the entertainment world that I could be good at." (Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

On having friends: - "I finally faced the fact that it isn't a crime not having friends. Being alone means you have fewer problems." (Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

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On having friends: - "I finally faced the fact that it isn't a crime not having friends. Being alone means you have fewer problems." (Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

Photo By Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup

On womanhood: - "I like being a woman, even in a man's world. After all, men can't wear dresses, but we can wear the pants." (Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

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On womanhood: - "I like being a woman, even in a man's world. After all, men can't wear dresses, but we can wear the pants." (Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

On discussing love and marriage (before Bobby Brown) with her mom: - "I said I wanted to grab for the simple things in life. I wanted to find a guy, get married, have children. And she in her wisdom said, `Yeah, well, that'll all come to you . . . but honey, it's going to take time, and all Mommy can tell you is God knows when it's right for you. And when it's right, He'll deliver.' "(Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

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On discussing love and marriage (before Bobby Brown) with her mom: - "I said I wanted to grab for the simple things in life. I wanted to find a guy, get married, have children. And she in her wisdom said, `Yeah, well, that'll all come to you . . . but honey, it's going to take time, and all Mommy can tell you is God knows when it's right for you. And when it's right, He'll deliver.' "(Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

Her famous response on the reality show Being Bobby Brown: - "Hell to the no!" (Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

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Her famous response on the reality show Being Bobby Brown: - "Hell to the no!" (Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

Photo By Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup

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On performing for her LGBT fans: - "It's their pride that they're celebrating. I'm just there to entertain. I'm proud of being a mother, a wife, a daughter and a sister, and a lover and a friend. And I am sure they are all those things, too, in their own lives. We're all God's children."(Photo: Ebet Roberts/Redferns)

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On performing for her LGBT fans: - "It's their pride that they're celebrating. I'm just there to entertain. I'm proud of being a mother, a wife, a daughter and a sister, and a lover and a friend. And I am sure they are all those things, too, in their own lives. We're all God's children."(Photo: Ebet Roberts/Redferns)

On her daughter Bobbi Kristina: - "I know that I could really kill for my daughter. I know because I'm living for her, so I'm fierce when it comes down to it." (Photo: Dave Benett/Getty Images)

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On her daughter Bobbi Kristina: - "I know that I could really kill for my daughter. I know because I'm living for her, so I'm fierce when it comes down to it." (Photo: Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo:  Dave Benett/Getty Images

Waiting to Exhale & The Preacher's Wife - With her big-screen credentials in check, Houston followed up her star-making turn in The Bodyguard with back-to-back hits Waiting to Exhale, opposite Angela Bassett and Lela Rochon, and The Preacher's Wife, with Denzel Washington. Houston earned $10 million for the latter role, making her one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood at the time.  (Photo:  Jan Persson/Redferns)

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On getting love from the fans: - "You get that love from the people. It lets me know that all the madness I go through, all the stuff that the business has to offer with all its madness; it makes it worthwhile." (Photo: Jan Persson/Redferns)

To a fan at the 2001 BET Awards: - "Yooou better lay low!" (Photo: Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage)

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To a fan at the 2001 BET Awards: - "Yooou better lay low!" (Photo: Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage)

Photo By Photo: Ron Galella

On her career following her film debut in The Bodyguard: - "The last time I toured was just before I'd had my baby. I'd just come off The Bodyguard. It rocketed, I got pregnant, had a baby. Everything happened so fast. It was too much to take at the moment... There was a lot of success at a very important time in my life. I think then I was more in wonder of what was going to happen."   (Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

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On her career following her film debut in The Bodyguard: - "The last time I toured was just before I'd had my baby. I'd just come off The Bodyguard. It rocketed, I got pregnant, had a baby. Everything happened so fast. It was too much to take at the moment... There was a lot of success at a very important time in my life. I think then I was more in wonder of what was going to happen." (Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

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On her hit single "My Love Is Your Love" (1999) being labeled hip hop: - "Well, I've gone from singing too white to R&B diva, and now I'm hip hop. I guess it's flattering to know that I can sing it all."(Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

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On her hit single "My Love Is Your Love" (1999) being labeled hip hop: - "Well, I've gone from singing too white to R&B diva, and now I'm hip hop. I guess it's flattering to know that I can sing it all."(Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

On talking to the actor Joe Pesci: - "I was talking to Joe Pesci the other night — we're both from New Jersey, and we were talking about being a regular person years ago and how we wanted the fame and fortune. But then we got it, we lost our lives. He wondered if we'd made the right choice. I think it's fair to say it's been more than I bargained for." (Photo: Phil McCarten/PictureGroup)

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On talking to the actor Joe Pesci: - "I was talking to Joe Pesci the other night — we're both from New Jersey, and we were talking about being a regular person years ago and how we wanted the fame and fortune. But then we got it, we lost our lives. He wondered if we'd made the right choice. I think it's fair to say it's been more than I bargained for." (Photo: Phil McCarten/PictureGroup)

As the Fairy Godmother in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella: - "You had it inside you all the time. You didn't need me. You just had to realize you had it!" (Photos: Adrian Sidney/PictureGroup)

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As the Fairy Godmother in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella: - "You had it inside you all the time. You didn't need me. You just had to realize you had it!" (Photos: Adrian Sidney/PictureGroup)

Photo By Photos: Adrian Sidney/PictureGroup

On working with Denzel Washington in The Preacher's Wife: - "He's a gentleman, very funny, silly like me." (Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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On working with Denzel Washington in The Preacher's Wife: - "He's a gentleman, very funny, silly like me." (Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

On raising (a young) Bobbi Kristina: - "Yes, I discipline her. On occasion when I really think that Bobbi Kris is beside herself, which sometimes she is. And I am the disciplinarian, because her father is putty and he never lays a hand on any of his children." (Photo: PA Photos /Landov)

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On raising (a young) Bobbi Kristina: - "Yes, I discipline her. On occasion when I really think that Bobbi Kris is beside herself, which sometimes she is. And I am the disciplinarian, because her father is putty and he never lays a hand on any of his children." (Photo: PA Photos /Landov)