My mother's one idea was to sacrifice her life to her children and she had done nothing else since the death of my father. We wished that she had married again instead.

I took advice from none but the best. I listened, how I listened! That's how I finally became my own expert.

Having plenty of time and all the museum's funds at my disposal, I put myself on a regime to buy one picture a day.

[On amassing art for her collection:] My motto was 'Buy a picture a day' and I lived up to it.

[On Venice:] Every hour of the day is a miracle of light. In summer with daybreak the rising sun produces such a tender magic on the water that it nearly breaks one's heart.

I was a liberated woman long before there was a name for it.

If anything can rival Venice in its beauty, it must be its reflection at sunset in the Grand Canal.

I wore one of my Tanguy earrings and one made by Calder in order to show my impartiality between Surrealist and Abstract Art.

[When asked how many husbands she had had:] My own, or other people's?

Venice is not only a city of fantasy and freedom. It is also a city of joy and pleasure.

I was much more interested in literature than I was in art. I just got into art by mistake.

What we imagine to be true becomes true.

There's no way to know what's going to happen, Folly. But we'll blood well be on our feet when it does.

We don't get montages or grand finales. We just eat dinner and do the dishes, and absolutely no one's going to clap their hands about it.

I went up on the hill and walked about until twilight had deepened into an autumn night with a benediction of starry quietude over it. I was alone but not lonely. I was a queen in halls of fancy.

Nothing on earth is as unbearable as dealing with other people if you are a person who lacks compassion and understanding.

With a book in your hand...you can go anywhere you want

To know the laws is not to memorize their letter but to grasp their full force and meaning.

One does not "manage" people. The task is to lead people.

There are two ways of reaching the people. One way is to invite them to come to you, the other way is to go to them.