Sophia Loren
27 quotes
Biography
Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone, known professionally as Sophia Loren, is an Italian actress, active in her native country and the United States. With a career spanning over 70 years, she is one of the last surviving major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
"I've never tried to block out the memories of the past, even though some are painful. I don't understand people who hide from their past. Everything you live through helps to make you the person you are now."
"I was born wise. Street-wise, people-wise, self-wise. This wisdom was my birthright. I was also born old. And illegitimate. But the two big advantages I had at birth were to have been born wise and to have been born in poverty."
"I was not intrigued with the accouterments of success and fame, the furs, jewels, expensive automobiles and mansions... I can assure you that these things were not on my mind when I sat spellbound in that Pozzuoli movie house. It was what these performers on the screen were doing, not what they received for doing it."
"I was blessed with a sense of my own destiny. I have never sold myself short. I have never judged myself by other people’s standards. I have always expected a great deal of myself, and if I fail, I fail myself. So failure or reversal does not bring out resentment in me because I cannot blame others for any misfortune that befalls me."
"My philosophy is that it's better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe and not to explore at all."
"A woman's dress should be like a barbed-wire fence: serving its purpose without obstructing the view."
"Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical."
"Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful."
"There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will have truly defeated age."
"Being beautiful can never hurt, but you have to have more. You have to sparkle, you have to be fun, you have to make your brain work if you have one. Being a Hollywood beauty was a mixed blessing. Men are men, with all that testosterone, and when a pretty girl comes in front of them what can you expect? The fact that I became one is probably the loveliest, most glamorous and fortunate misunderstanding."
"After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery. It's better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life."
"When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child."
"Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go so much further than people with vastly superior talent."
"Spaghetti can be eaten most successfully if you inhale it like a vacuum cleaner."
"When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child."
"Many people think they want things, but they don't really have the strength, the discipline. They are weak. I believe that you get what you want if you want it badly enough."
"I am against all war."
"The facts of life are that a child who has seen war cannot be compared with a child who doesn't know what war is except from television."
"You have to believe in marriage and you have to believe in a relationship between two people. If you really think in your life that you have found the right person, you have to stick to it, even though there are ups and downs. If you really believe in your union, you have to nourish it and work for it, then you can really spend your life together forever."
"Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. You must be able to sustain yourself against staggering blows. There is no code of conduct to help beginners. That is why some people with mediocre talent but with great inner drive go much further than people with vastly superior talent."
"There is a Fountain of Youth: It is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age."
"You have to enjoy life. Always be surrounded by people that you like, people who have a nice conversation. There are so many positive things to think about."
"Discipline is the great equalizer. If a young woman is beautiful but has no discipline, she will lose her looks as she grows older. If a plain woman is disciplined she will undoubtedly become more beautiful with time."
"When you are a mother you are never really alone in your thoughts ... A mother has to think twice once for herself and once for her child."
"There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind your talents the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source you will truly have defeated age."