Whitney Houston’s 13 GREATEST quotes: from ‘crack is cheap’ to thoughts on fame and love

The superstar was found unresponsive on February 11, 2012; the same day as Clive Davies’ pre-Grammys party.

She was only 48 at the time, and her passing sent shockwaves throughout the globe – unfortunately also prompting several highly-publicised difficulties amongst her friends and family.

Her daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, died three years later, in July 2015 – at the age of 22.

Take a fond look back at some of Whitney’s best quotes below.

1. On life: ”I can tell you that I am not self-destructive. I’m not a person who wants to die. I’m a person who has life, who wants to live. And I always have. And I wouldn’t mistake it for anything else other than that.” – to Diane Sawyer on Primetime (2000).

2. On her destiny: “I wanted to be a teacher. I love children, so I wanted to deal with children. Then I wanted to be a veterinarian. But by the age of 10 or 11, when I opened my mouth and said, ‘Oh God, what’s this?’ I kind of knew teaching and being a veterinarian were going to have to wait. What’s in your soul is in your soul.” – to Rolling Stone (1993).

3. On loneliness: “I finally faced the fact that it isn’t a crime not having friends. Being alone means you have fewer problems. When I decided to be a singer, my mother warned me I’d be alone a lot. Basically we all are. Loneliness comes with life.” – to Time Magazine (1987).

4. On her strict upbringing: “Cracking gum or sitting with your legs open were considered unacceptable … and I’d better not come back from the yard with scratched knees.” – to Time Magazine (1987)

5. On her mother: ”You learn, you grow up, and you become your own woman. But we’re still very close. When other people are talking s**t to my ear, I know my mother won’t blow smoke up my a**, and I know she’ll tell me the truth. She’s honest with me.” – to Rolling Stone (1993).

6. On her first public performance in church: “I was scared to death… I was aware of people staring at me. No one moved. They seemed almost in a trance. I just stared at the clock in the centre of the church. When I finished, everyone clapped and started crying. From then on, I knew God had blessed me.” – to Time Magazine (1987).

7. On being photographed: ”From the beginning, the camera and I were great friends. I know the eye of the camera is on me – eye to eye. It loves me, and I love it.” – to Time Magazine (1987).

8. On her love life: ”I’m like an American princess. White America wanted me to marry someone white. They don’t understand why I’d want a strong black man.” – as told by Jamie Foster Brown to Redbook (1996).

9. On fame: “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.” – to Ebony (1991).

10. On competition: “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.” – to Rolling Stone (1993).

11. On motherhood: “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.” – Unknown interview.

12. On rumours of a cocaine addiction: “First of all let’s get one thing straight. crack is cheap. I make too much money to ever smoke crack.” – to Diane Sawyer on Primetime (2002)

13. On celebrity: “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 wante 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.” – to Newsweek (1998).