Great Throughts Treasury

"A career is born in public - talent in privacy."

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."

"This life is what you make it. Not matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes, it's a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you're going to mess it up. Girls will be your friends - they'll act like it anyway. But just remember, some come, somg go. The ones that stay with you through everything - they're your true best friends. Don't let go of them. Also remember, sisters make the best friends in the world. As for lovers, well, they'll come and go too. And babve, I hate to say it, most of them - actually pretty much all of them are going to break your heart, but you can't give up becuase if you give up, you'll never find your soul mate. You'll never find that half who makes you whole and that goes for everything. Just because you fail once, doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don't, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about."

"We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets."

"A friend tells you what you want to hear; a best friend tells you the truth."

"A career is wonderful thing, but you can't snuggle up to it on a cold night."

"A man has a tendency to accept you the way you are, while most women immediately start to pick flaws and want to change you."

"A girl doesn?t need anyone who doesn?t need her."

"A sex symbol becomes a thing. I just hate to be a thing. But if I?m going to be a symbol of something I?d rather have it sex than some other things they?ve got symbols of."

"A man is more frank and sincere with his emotions than a woman. We girls, I'm afraid, have a tendency to hide our feelings."

"A man makes you feel important - makes you glad you are a woman."

"A smart girl leaves before she is left."

"A woman can bring a new love to each man she loves, providing there are not too many."

"A woman can't be alone. She needs a man. A man and a woman support and strengthen each other. She just can't do it by herself."

"A woman knows by intuition, or instinct, what is best for herself."

"Acting became important. It became an art that belonged to the actor, not to the director or producer, or the man whose money had bought the studio. It was an art that transformed you into somebody else, that increased your life and mind. I had always loved acting and tried hard to learn it. But with Michael Chekhov, acting became more than a profession to me. It became a sort of religion."

"Acting isn?t something you do. Instead of doing it, it occurs. If you?re going to start with logic, you might as well give up. You can have conscious preparation, but you have unconscious results."

"After all, all we demanded was a right to twinkle."

"A strong man doesn?t have to be dominant toward a woman. He doesn?t match his strength against a woman weak with love for him. He matches it against the world."

"A wise girl kisses but doesn't love, listens but doesn't believe, and leaves before she is left."

"A wise girl knows her limits, a smart girl knows that she has none."

"All a girl really wants is for one guy to prove to her that they are not all the same."

"All little girls should be told they are pretty, even if they aren't."

"All girls are beautiful in their own way."

"All my stepchildren carried the burden of my fame. Sometimes they would read terrible things about me, and I'd worry about whether it would hurt them. I would tell them: 'Don't hide these things from me. I'd rather you ask me these things straight out, and I'll answer all your questions.'"

"Always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don?t, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life?s a beautiful thing and there?s so much to smile about."

"An actor is not a machine, no matter how much they want to say you are. Creativity has got to start with humanity and when you're a human being, you feel, you suffer."

"An actor is supposed to be a sensitive instrument. Isaac Stern takes good care of his violin. What if everybody jumped on his violin?"

"An actress is not a machine, but they treat you like a machine. A money machine."

"And it?s better to be absolutely ridiculous, than absolutely boring."

"And we let the most foolish things tear us apart."

"Anything?s possible, almost."

"Arthur Miller wouldn't have married me if I had been nothing but a dumb blonde."

"As far as I can make out, women's friendships with each other are based on a gush of lies and pretty speeches that mean nothing. You'd think they were all wolves trying to seduce each other the way they flatter and flirt when they're together."

"As Michael (Chekhov)'s pupil, I learned more about acting. I learned psychology, history, and the good manners of art -- taste."

"At twelve I looked like a girl of seventeen. My body was developed and shapely. But no one knew this but me. I still wore the blue dress and the blouse the orphanage provided. They made me look like an overgrown lummox."

"Beauty and femininity are ageless and can't be contrived, and glamour, although the manufacturers won't like this, cannot be manufactured. Not real glamour; it's based on femininity."

"Before marriage, a girl has to make love to a man to hold him. After marriage, she has to hold him to make love to him."

"Being a sex symbol is a heavy load to carry, especially when one is tired, hurt and bewildered."

"Beneath the makeup and behind the smile I am just a girl who wishes for the world."

"Black men don't like to be called 'boys,' but women accept being called 'girls.'"

"Boys think girls are like books, if the cover doesn?t catch their eye they won?t bother to read what?s inside."

"But chiefly, no lies! No lies about there being a Santa Claus or about the world being full of noble and honorable people all eager to help each other and do good to each other. I?ll tell her there are honor and goodness in the world, the same as there are diamonds and radium."

"Confidentially, the type of male I find most enjoyable for a friend is one who has enough fire and assurance to speak up for his convictions."

"Consider the fellow. He never spends his time telling you about his previous night's date. You get the idea he has eyes only for you and wouldn't think of looking at another woman."

"Creativity has got to start with humanity and when you're a human being, you feel, you suffer. You're gay, you're sick, you're nervous or whatever."

"Designers want me to dress like Spring, in billowing things. I don't feel like Spring. I feel like a warm red Autumn."

"Dogs never bite me - just humans."

"Don't you know that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? You wouldn't marry a girl just because she's pretty, but my goodness, doesn't it help? [in character as Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes]"

"Dreaming about being an actress is more exciting than being one."