Who is Katharine Hepburn? It took me a long time to create that creature.

If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun.

Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what you are expecting to give - which is everything.

As one goes through life, one learns that if you don't paddle your own canoe, you don't move.

Never complain. Never explain.

I have no romantic feelings about age. Either you are interesting at any age or you are not. There is nothing particularly interesting about being old - or being young, for that matter.

Life can be wildly tragic at times, and I've had my share. But whatever happens to you, you have to keep a slightly comic attitude. In the final analysis, you have got not to forget to laugh.

I have not lived as a woman. I have lived as a man. I've just done what I damn well wanted to, and I've made enough money to support myself, and ain't afraid of being alone

You politicians remain professional because the voters remain amateur.

If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased.

If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married.

What was the future? The future was a solid wall, not promising, not threatening - all bunk. No guarantees of anything, not even the guarantee that life isn't one big joke.

To survive in this world, you got to be many times a coward but at least once a hero

The thing about romance and romantic movies is that they can be somewhat melodramatic. For a lot of actors, there's a certain cringe factor that's involved with that.

Every time someone in your life dies, you realize you're not invincible and you have to wonder if we're celebrating life or if we're mourning a death.

Liberty is no heirloom. It requires the daily bread of self-denial, the salt of law and, above all, the backbone of acknowledging responsibility for our deeds.

Anger can be an effective negotiating tool, but only as a calculated act, never as a reaction.

All animals are minor variations on a very particular theme.

What is essential in war is victory, not prolonged operations.

As far as the filmmaking process is concerned, stars are essentially worthless - and absolutely essential.