Top 140 Quotes & Sayings by Joan Collins - Page 2

I've spent years when I've not been in the limelight at all and I'm perfectly happy living my life without being swooped on by paparazzi.

I don't know why people are so obsessed with age anyway. I mean, 90 is the new 70; 70 is the new 50 and 50 is the new 40; so the whole act-your-age thing? Only up to a point.

I've said no to 'Celebrity Big Brother,' 'Strictly,' and the American one, 'Dancing With The Stars.' I don't feel it's right for me. I've been asked to do reality TV a zillion times. No way. No way. Nobody's going to get into my living room and see me there.

I never thought I was particularly good looking. But when I see old photographs, I realise that I was. I do wish I had known that at the time because beauty is power. I didn't realise how lucky I was to be young, beautiful and in Hollywood. It didn't hit me. Every day I woke up, went to the film studio and just got on with it.

Of course it's true: the public want to see young people - young people are the people who go to the cinema. It's a sad fact of life, but you've got to accept it and not whine about it.

I used to go over to Gene Kelly's house and play volleyball, and Paul Newman and Marlon Brando were always there. You kind of took it for granted because I was 20, 21, 22, and they were a bit older - well, Gene certainly was. But it was just part of daily living. They were in the same profession, and you didn't think that much about it.

Having had five husbands, I guess I should know a thing or two about marriage.

I've always maintained that there is a very fine line between a daring, sexy older woman and mutton dressed as lamb.

My parents instilled in me that life was going to be very difficult and that I'd have to work for everything.

I'm a bit shy, I suppose, and a bit lazy.

I've never chased fame. I came into this business to be a theatre actress. I was nine when I first appeared on stage. But I can't say I would turn my back on fortune. I'm someone who enjoys the benefits of money.

I have girlfriends who've had Botox and been left with lumps in their faces. And the lips, don't even get me started.

I think you always have to use certain parts of yourself in any role.

I like to remember phone numbers because it keeps your brain active. If you don't use it, you lose it.

You can't help getting older, but you can help yourself from becoming old and infirm, in mind as well as body.

And the truth is I've always taken very good care of my skin, and always, always worn make-up.

I've made no secret of the fact that I often wear wigs and have in fact launched my own 'Dynasty' range, named after various characters. I find this saves a ton of time - as well as my own hair.

I have never been the mousy, stand-two-paces-behind, obedient 'little woman' type.

Botox, I think, is poison, I would never put it into my face, and I'm needle-phobic. I spend a lot of time keeping my face out of the sun and taking care of my skin and wearing make-up.

My father is Jewish, and I look exactly like him... My mother is British, but she's of French extraction.

When I was at school, I was terrible at algebra and arithmetic, but I was always the best at English and literature. And acting, of course.

It's no one's fault to be born ugly, but, honestly, must it be worn as a symbol of pride?

If you eat junk, you look like junk. People say, 'It's not my fault, it's my glands.' It's not; it's greed!

I've never been that keen on Shakespeare.

I was so fortunate to work closely with the designer Nolan Miller whilst on 'Dynasty' to create the wardrobe for Alexis Carrington Colby, and we had great fun sourcing outfits.

What is so weird is that young people who want to be 'celebrities' do not want to put in the hard work. They don't want to do the training, go to drama school, read Shakespeare, try different accents and study technique. They just want to be famous. It is not just in England; it's the same in America and all over Europe.

Doing 20 minutes of stretching, light weights and floor exercises three times a week takes the same amount of time as a long coffee break - and eating a tuna fish salad, sardines on toast or scrambled eggs is surely preferable to a Big Mac or KFC.

I was voted the most beautiful girl in the world in 1958, and courted by every young, available man in Los Angeles, most of whom I didn't go out with, by the way.

The clothes were a huge part of what made 'Dynasty' fun.

Certainly there are dozens of over-50 actresses who look great: Sophia Loren, Susan Sarandon, Ursula Andress, Stefanie Powers, Raquel Welch, Barbara Eden, Joanna Lumley, Linda Gray - the list is endless, and these are just the actresses! I have many friends in their 60s, 70s and 80s, not in the limelight, but who all look absolutely stunning.

My mother use to call me 'Miss Perpetual Motion' because I rarely keep still.

Every woman should wear make-up. It takes years off. I'm wearing lots of false eyelashes today, and to me, lipstick is the best cosmetic that exists.

It is unseemly to undress on stage. I won't do that.

I think it is shocking that 15- and 16-year-olds leave school unable to add up and with the reading ability of a four-year-old.

One of the rules about being an actor or an actress is that you never diss other actors or actresses, particularly when you don't know them.

I blame my grandmother for encouraging me to become an actress.

If I hear the word 'retire,' it makes me want to throw up. And then do what? Sit around all day watching television?

However much some journalists may criticize me, I know that I look, feel, and behave several decades younger than my actual age, and much of that is because I believe you are what you think you are. This is called positive affirmation, and it's a really strong tool.

Every time an article is written about me or any of my contemporaries who's had the fortune and discipline to look good at a certain age, I am struck by the tone of astonishment, and the certainty that something is being done secretively to beat the devil.

There's something about the air and the sky and the atmosphere in the South of France that must be very conducive to work, to being creative, because I have written several of my books there. I find it so much easier because you're cut off. If you don't want to speak to anybody, basically they don't know where you are. And it's so beautiful.

Of course it does on opening night, but I've never had that devastating stage fright that some people get, but apparently, you can develop it.

I never think about age. I believe your age is totally how you feel. I've seen women of thirty-five who are old and people of seventy-five who are young. As long as I look after myself physically, mentally and emotionally, I'll stay young.

In fact, the 20th century I think was the most fascinating century and the whole of man civilization because so much happened.

After a certain age, you get the face you deserve.

Well, it is quite daunting, but I made my first appearance on the stage when I was nine, because I went to a theatrical school, because I wanted to be an actress since I was eight.

Most of the time we've been living in England and now we've bought an apartment in New York which we absolutely love.

Life is a predator: you have to eat it before it eats you.

Isn't three quarters of life a guilty pleasure?

Making each day a mini lifetime - to achieve something and to enjoy something.

My grandmother spoiled my father rotten and he grew up expecting women to do whatever he wanted. When he married my beautiful mother, Elsa, he expected her to give up her career as a champion ballroom dancer and become a good wife and mother, which she dutifully did.

Only fine cigars are worth smoking and only men who smoke fine cigars are worth kissing.

Life is not life unless you make mistakes

I mean, I'm a war baby, and we had rationing, and we didn't have sugar and sweets, which is very good for you in actual fact. Because when we had a piece of fruit, we'd gulp it down. It was just great.

No, that's what I think God does to you. He gives you some great gig in which you make a whole heap of money, and you're just on top of the world and on every magazine cover, but your personal life is miserable. And for most of that time, I have to say, my personal life was pretty miserable.

I've made no secret of the fact that I often wear wigs and have in fact launched my own Dynasty range, named after various characters. I find this saves a ton of time - as well as my own hair.

I don't know why people are so obsessed with age anyway. I mean, 90 is the new 70 70 is the new 50 and 50 is the new 40 so the whole act-your-age thing? Only up to a point.

I don't believe in eating junk and I protect my face all the time from the sun, even in the winter with base and makeup.

I loathe conflict, and I loathe not getting along well with people, so I always try very hard to be on the best terms with the people I work with.

Love may be a dream but marriage is a nightmare.

From the age of 17 I was a pin-up girl. I did it for 30 years and, quite frankly, it gets a bit boring.