Shirley Bassey Quotations

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.

You don't get older, you get better.

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

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

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.

When I started singing, I couldn't be shut up.

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

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

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.