While reading the journal of Sir Walter Scott, I was amazed to essentially hear reflections of my own thoughts, my values, my way of looking at the world… It was as if I had written this book but since forgotten having done so.
The same is true for the quotes by Audrey Hepburn. It is rare for me to read something Ms Hepburn said that is not a true reflection of who I am at my core, what I believe, how I view the world.
So, I thought I would share here with you, the vast majority of her published quotes:
- A woman can be beautiful as well as intellectual.
- And the beauty of a woman, with passing years only grows!
- Anyone who does not believe in miracles is not a realist.
- As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others
- Dress like you are already famous.
- Elegance is the only beauty that never fades. A woman can be beautiful as well as intellectual. It’s that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so ‘don’t fuss, dear; get on with it.’
- Everything I learned I learned from the movies.
- For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone
- For me the only things of interests are those linked to the heart.
- For my whole life, my favorite activity was reading. It’s not the most social pastime.
- Giving is living. If you stop wanting to give, there’s nothing more to live for.
- Good things aren’t supposed to just fall into your lap. God is very generous, but He expects you to do your part first.
- I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick. I believe in pink. I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and… I believe in miracles.
- I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.
- I believe, every day, you should have at least one exquisite moment.
- I decided, very early on, just to accept life unconditionally; I never expected it to do anything special for me, yet I seemed to accomplish far more than I had ever hoped. Most of the time it just happened to me without my ever seeking it.
- I don’t want to be alone, I want to be left alone.
- I had to make a choice at one point in my life, of missing films or missing my children. It was a very easy decision to make because I missed my children so very much.
- I have enormous faith, but it’s not attached to any one in particular religion. My mother was one thing, my father another. In Holland they were all Calvinists. That has no importance at all to me.
- I have learnt how to live… how to be in the world and of the world, and not just to stand aside and watch.
- I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel.
- I heard a definition once: Happiness is health and a short memory! I wish I’d invented it, because it is very true.
- I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it’s the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It’s probably the most important thing in a person.
- I may not always be offered work, but I’ll always have my family.
- I never think of myself as an icon. What is in other people’s mind is not in my mind. I just do my thing.
- I never thought I’d land in pictures with a face like mine.
- I probably hold the distinction of being one movie star who, by all laws of logic, should never have made it. At each stage of my career, I lacked the experience.
- I tried always to do better: saw always a little further. I tried to stretch myself.
- I was asked to act when I couldn’t act. I was asked to sing ‘Funny Face’ when I couldn’t sing, and dance with Fred Astaire when I couldn’t dance – and do all kinds of things I wasn’t prepared for. Then I tried like mad to cope with it.
- I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it.
- I was born with something that appealed to an audience at that particular time…I acted instinctively. I’ve had one of the greatest schools of all – a whole row of great, great directors.
- I’m an introvert… I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky.
- I’m half-Irish, half-Dutch, and I was born in Belgium. If I was a dog, I’d be in a hell of a mess!
- I’m not a born actress, as such, I care about expressing feelings.
- I’m not beautiful. My mother once called me an ugly duckling. But, listed separately, I have a few good features.
- I’ve been lucky. Opportunities don’t often come along. So, when they do, you have to grab them.
- If I get married, I want to be very married.
- If I’m honest, I have to tell you I still read fairy tales and I like them best of all.
- If my world were to cave in tomorrow, I would look back on all the pleasures, excitements and worthwhilenesses I have been lucky enough to have had. Not the sadness, not my miscarriages or my father leaving home, but the joy of everything else. It will have been enough.
- In Holland and Belgium, and afterwards in England, my happiest moments were in the country. I’ve always had a passion for the outdoors, for trees, for birds and flowers.
- It is too much to hope that I shall keep up my success. I don’t ask for that. All I shall do is my best – and hope.
- It’s that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so don’t fuss, dear; get on with it.
- Let’s face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me
- Life is a party. Dress for it.
- Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book, and remembering – because you can’t take it in all at once.
- Look, whenever I hear or read I’m beautiful, I simply don’t understand it … I’m certainly not beautiful in any conventional way. I didn’t make my career on beauty.
- Make-up can only make you look pretty on the outside but it doesn’t help if you’re ugly on the inside. Unless you eat the make-up.
- My greatest ambition is to have a career without becoming a career woman.
- My own life has been much more than a fairy tale. I’ve had my share of difficult moments, but whatever difficulties I’ve gone through, I’ve always gotten the prize at the end.
- Not to live for the day, that would be materialistic – but to treasure the day. I realize that most of us live on the skin – on the surface – without appreciating just how wonderful it is simply to be alive at all.
- Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!
- On the one hand maybe I’ve remained infantile, while on the other I matured quickly, because at a young age I was very aware of suffering and fear.
- Paris is always a good idea.
- People associate me with a time when movies were pleasant, when women wore pretty dresses in films and you heard beautiful music. I always love it when people write me and and say ‘I was having a rotten time, and I walked into a cinema and saw one of your movies, and it made such a difference.’
- People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.
- Pick the day. Enjoy it – to the hilt. The day as it comes. People as they come… The past, I think, has helped me appreciate the present – and I don’t want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future.
- Sex appeal is something that you feel deep down inside. It’s suggested rather than shown. I’m not as well-stacked as Sophia Loren or Gina Lollobrigida, but there is more to sex appeal than just measurements. I don’t need a bedroom to prove my womanliness. I can convey just as much sex appeal, picking apples off a tree or standing in the rain.
- Some people dream of having a big swimming pool. With me, it’s closets.
- Success is like reaching an important birthday and finding you’re exactly the same.
- The beauty in a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart; the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It’s the caring and that she lovingly gives the passion that she shows and the beauty of a woman only grows with passing years.
- The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she knows.
- The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.
- The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.
- The greatest victory has been to be able to live with myself, to accept my shortcomings… I’m a long way from the human being I’d like to be. But I’ve decided I’m not so bad after all.
- The most important thing is to enjoy your life, to be happy, it’s all that matters
- There are certain shades of limelight that can wreck a girl’s complexion.
- There are more important things than outward appearance. No amount of makeup can cover an ugly personality.
- There is one difference between a long life and a great dinner; in the dinner, the sweet things come last.
- There must be something wrong with those people who think Audrey Hepburn doesn’t perspire, hiccup or sneeze, because they know that’s not true. In fact, I hiccup more than most.
- They say love is the best investment; the more you give, the more you get in return.”
- To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.
- True friends are families which you can select.
- We all want to be loved, don’t we? Everyone looks for a way of finding love. It’s a constant search for affection in every walk of life.
- Whatever a man might do, whatever misery or heartache your children might give you – and they give you a lot – however much your parents irritate you – it doesn’t matter because you love them.
- When the chips are down, you are alone, and loneliness can be terrifying. Fortunately, I’ve always had a chum I could call. And I love to be alone. It doesn’t bother me one bit. I’m my own company.
- When you have nobody you can make a cup of tea for, when nobody needs you, that’s when I think life is over.
- Why change? Everyone has his own style. When you have found it, you should stick to it.
- You can always tell what kind of a person a man really thinks you are by the earrings he gives you.
- You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.
- Your heart just breaks, that’s all. But you can’t judge, or point fingers. You just have to be lucky enough to find someone who appreciates you.
My life will not impact anywhere near as many people as did hers, but I hope that those whose lives I touch will remember me fondly, and when they do, I hope that memory will make them smile…