Top 82 Quotes & Sayings by Shirley Temple

Most of the people in Ghana wouldn't know me as an actress. They'd know me for my work at the U.N.

I work a seventeen hour day, and I'm personally responsible for 108 staff members in the embassy.

Make-believe colors the past with innocent distortion, and it swirls ahead of us in a thousand ways in science, in politics, in every bold intention.

I wanted to be in the FBI. I also wanted to be a pie salesman.

I ran for Congress, just once.

Many people consider me an old friend.

I class myself with Rin Tin Tin. People in the Depression wanted something to cheer them up, and they fell in love with a dog and a little girl.

I was in Vienna in August 1968 for a meeting of the International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies, of which I was co-founder, and we wanted a 20th country to join. They asked for a volunteer to go to Prague to get Czechoslovakia to do it, and my hand always goes up first.

There's nothing like real love. Nothing.

I did an imitation of him to make the crew laugh. To my shock, there was Cary Grant behind me. He got very angry. I was sent all the way from RKO to David Selznick's office and was told not to do it anymore. I thought to myself, 'I must have been pretty good to make him that angry.'

One famous movie executive, who shall remain nameless, exposed himself to me in his office. 'Mr X,' I said, 'I thought you were a producer, not an exhibitor.'

I had had enough pretend. I wanted to be in the real world.

I remember telling President Carter on his first night, when I was escorting people around, that I was interested in continuing public service and that politics didn't matter - but it does, doesn't it?

The U.N. acts as the world's conscience, and over eighty-five percent of the work that is done by the United Nations is in the social, economic, educational and cultural fields.

When I asked my mother why crowds shouted my name and said 'We love you,' she would dust it off by saying, 'Your work makes them happy.' She never let it go to my head.

Studio chief Winfield Sheehan wanted me to remain a little girl. If I lost my innocence, he said, it would show in my eyes.

I wish my name was Cobb. Then they would send over a Cobb salad.

If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't change anything. I probably would have paid for the pleasure of working.

Men say, 'I've loved you since I was 7 years old,' and I say, 'Well, you never contacted me.' And very often women say, 'Do youuuuuu know what I have?' and I want to say, 'Yessssssss, I do.' Because inevitably the answer is, 'An original Shirley Temple doll.'

I guess I was an early method actress. I would go to a quiet part of the sound stage with my mother. I wouldn't think of anything sad, I would just make my mind a blank. In a minute I could cry.

I have one piece of advice for those of you who want to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award: Start early!

Good luck needs no explanation.

There are many of us who should be in a position to bring peace to the world.

I've always been bossy.

By the time I got to the Fox studio for my first major film, I knew how to hit a mark. I knew how to memorize lines. I knew how to pay attention.

Shirley Temple doesn't hurt Shirley Temple Black. Shirley Temple helps Shirley Temple Black. She is thought of as a friend - which I am!

I hate that song 'Mr. Bojangles.' It drives me up the wall, since it's not about him at all. He was never a bum in jail.

When I was 14, I was the oldest I ever was. I've been getting younger ever since.

Any star can be devoured by human adoration, sparkle by sparkle.

Biographies of me have usually been compiled from old newspaper clips, untruthful publicity stories, and reminiscences of people who claim to have known me well.

I was absolutely bathed in love. I was so young, starting at age 3, that working seemed very normal. I thought everybody went to work.

We would have to invent the U.N. if we did not have it, which is not an original thought.

Nothing crushes freedom as substantially as a tank.

I loved what I did. I remember cruel mothers who would pinch their children to make them cry in a scene, but my mother encircled me with affection.

My role models were Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt, and my major crush was J. Edgar Hoover.

When you're a performer, you have to please a large audience. And when you're in politics, you have to please a large audience, too.

I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph.

At the end of the Depression, people were perhaps looking for something to cheer themselves up. They fell in love with a dog and a little girl. It won't happen again.

I've led three lives: the acting part, wife and mother - which is a career - and international relations. I'm proud of my career, the first one, and I'm proud of the other two, too.

I wanted to be the first girl in my class to get married. From the seventh grade on, I used to write in my yearbook under each senior's picture, 'married' or 'engaged.' I had marriage on the brain.

Long ago, I became more interested in the real world than in make-believe.

The idea of being with my peers at a real school seemed much more exciting than making movies.

I've been blessed with three wonderful careers: motion pictures and television, wife, mother and grandmother... and diplomatic services for the United States government.

When I saw work shoes, I would know that that person worked. I was very worried about people with shiny, pointed shoes as a child.

I'm not too proud of the movies I made as a grownup except for 'That Hagen Girl', which nobody remembers but which gave me a chance to act.

Dr. Kissinger was a former child. Jerry Ford was a former child. Even F.D.R. was a former child. I retired from the movies in 1949, and I'm still a former child.

Time is money. Wasted time means wasted money means trouble.

Shirley Temple opens doors for Shirley Temple Black.

Politicians are actors, too, don't you think? Usually, if you like people and you're outgoing, not a shy little thing, you can do pretty well in politics.

I have always told anyone who would listen that I was available for more public service.

Animal crackers in my soup Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop Gosh oh gee but I have fun Swallowing animals one by one In every bowl of soup I see Lions and Tigers watching me I make 'em jump right through a hoop Those animal crackers in my soup When I get hold of the big bad wolf I just push him under to drown Then I bite him in a million bits And I gobble him right down When their inside me where it's dark I walk around like Noah's ark I stuff my tummy like a goop With animal crackers in my soup.

You've got to S-M-I-L-E To be H-A-Double-P-Y

Don't forget to tell your favorite people that you love them.

I'm quite optimistic. I'm also a realist. And I hope, you know, things work out. I don't think that the world will ever know peace. Complete peace in all countries. I think perhaps that's not in our makeup to do this although we can pray for it and work for it. But I think that the building blocks of peace are moving into shape, and I think that the world is going to be a better place.

Intentions often melt in the face of unexpected opportunity.

There’s nothing like real love. Nothing.

I don’t like to do negatives. There are always pluses to things.

Be brave and clear. Follow your heart and don't be overly influenced by outside factors. Be true to yourself.

One has to handle these negative experiences alone.You can't get help from your friends or family.You're finally alone with it, and you have to come to grips with misfortune and go on.

On the good ship Lollipop Its a sweet trip To the candy shop Where bon-bon's play, On the sunny beach Of peppermint bay Lemonade stands, Everywhere Crackerjack bands, Fill the air, And there you are, Happy landings on a chocolate bar. See the sugar bowl Do a tootsie roll In a big bad devils food cake, If you eat too much, Oh, oh, You'll awake, With a tummy ache.