Luise Rainer

“I was very thin, like a boy, and I was very un-sexy.”

“The best imitation in the world is not half as good as a poor original.”

“The Oscar is not a curse. The real curse is that once you have an Oscar they think you can do anything.”

“Happiness lies in moments, and while you have it, you're not even aware; only afterwards do you know you were happy.”

“I don't believe in acting. I think that people in life act, but when you are on the stage or, in my case, also on screen, you have to be true.”

“In my acting, I have tried to do this - to present to audiences a living creature in whom they can recognise themselves or someone they know.”

“I feel best in nature or near nature.”

“I am an actress. I am not a movie star.”

“I had immense ambition to become a really valuable actress.”

“One can be more than once in love - that's the most important thing.”

“I felt very alone in Hollywood.”

“I always considered myself the world's worst actress.”

“I remember once Robert Taylor invited me to lunch. I asked him, 'What is your ambition?' He said, 'I want to have 10 very good suits.'”

“The secret of a long life is to never trust a doctor.”

“Some very beautiful things get lost and forgotten. Just as I got lost.”

“I admire people who are creative.”

“Take a person like Julia Roberts: she does what she wants.”

“I have never had a current state of mind. My mind changes a great deal. I am very affected by any sorrow or sad thing, and I am very affected by joy and beauty.”

“I know the good from the bad, also the in-between, but I was never political.”

“I should have done more. I did too little of everything.”