- I never thought I'd land in pictures with a face like mine.
- 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
- Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it's at the end of your arm. As you get older, remember you have another hand: the first is to help yourself, the second is to help others.
- I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it.
- 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 a prize at the end.
- For me, the only things of interest are those linked to the heart.
- I never think of myself as an icon. What is in other people's minds is not in my mind. I just do my thing.
- 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.
- My look is attainable. Women can look like Audrey Hepburn by flipping out their hair, buying the large sunglasses, and the little sleeveless dresses.
- Success is like reaching an important birthday and finding you're exactly the same.
- I know I have more sex appeal on the tip of my nose than many women in their entire bodies. It doesn't stand out a mile, but it's there.
- [talking about a severe coughing attack she had when she was six weeks old, slowly turning blue and finally stopping breathing until her mother's prayers and spanking brought her back to life] If I were to write a biography, it would start like this: I was born in Brussels, Belgium, on May 4, 1929 . . . and I died six weeks later.
- [about her "comeback" in 1976] Whatever happens, the most important thing is growing old gracefully. And you can't do that on the cover of a fan magazine.
- 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.'
- [on filming Funny Face (1957), while coping with extreme Paris weather and a grumpy co-star] Here I've been waiting for 20 years to dance with 'Fred Astaire', and what do I get? Mud in my eye!
- I think sex is overrated. I don't have sex appeal and I know it. As a matter of fact, I think I'm rather funny looking. My teeth are funny, for one thing, and I have none of the attributes usually required for a movie queen, including the shapeliness.
- You can't let yourself worry when you play a classic role. I'm an introvert anyway. Playing the extroverted girl in Breakfast at Tiffany's was the hardest thing I ever did. If I had stopped to think about comparison with my predecessors as Eliza, I'd have frozen completely. But I loved this part. Eliza is vulnerable, but she has a beautiful inner strength. I made myself forget the problems. I threw myself into it and tried to make it me.
- I understood the dismay of people who had seen Julie on Broadway. Julie made that role her own, and for that reason I didn't want to do the film when it was first offered. But Jack Warner never wanted to put Julie in the film. He was totally opposed to it, for whatever reason. Then I learned that if I turned it down, they would offer it to still another movie actress. So I felt I should have the same opportunity to play it as any other film actress. - On My Fair Lady (1964).
- You can even say that I hated myself at certain periods. I was too fat, or maybe too tall, or maybe just plain too ugly ... you can say my definiteness stems from underlying feelings of insecurity and inferiority. I couldn't conquer these feelings by acting indecisive. I found the only way to get the better of them was by adopting a forceful, concentrated drive.
- [on "The Diary of Anne Frank"] I was given the book in Dutch, in galley form, in 1946 by a friend. I read it...and it destroyed me. It does this to many people when they first read it but I was not reading it as a book, as printed pages. This was my life. I didn't know what I was going to read. I've never been the same again, it affected me so deeply.
- When I've made about 70 films and the public still wants me, then I shall think of myself as a star.
- Only the absolutely determined people succeed.
- [1991 - Comparing her acting ability with her contemporaries] I couldn't do what Cher, or Michelle Pfeiffer, or even Meryl Streep do. No, I think Cher, for instance, is so versatile. She deals with dialogue as if it's just coming out of her skin, you know, it's just part of her. She has enormous scale of emotions, and total lack of inhibitions, which I envy. Michelle Pfeiffer, for instance, can sing, and she can be very dramatic, and she can be very sexy. Meryl Streep is a highly dramatic actress, and also, again, can do anything she wants. I can't.
- [from a letter to Henry Mancini] I have just seen our picture [Breakfast at Tiffany's], this time with your score. A movie without music is a little like an aeroplane without fuel. However beautifully the job is done, we are still on the ground and in a world of reality. Your music has lifted us all up and sent us soaring. Everything we cannot say with words or show with action you have expressed for us. You have done this with so much imagination, fun and beauty. You are the hippest of cats - and the most sensitive of composers. Thank you, dear Hank. Lots of love, Audrey.
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