[In her 1975 autobiography] You don`t really know a person until you live with him, not just sleep with him. Sex is not enough to sustain marriage. I have the unfortunate reputation of being Miss Goody Two-shoes, America`s Virgin, and all that, so I`m afraid it`s going to shock some people for me to say this, but I staunchly believe no two people should get married until they have lived together. The young people have it right. What a tragedy it is for a couple to get married, have a child, and in the process discover they are not suited for one another! If I had lived with Al Jorden for a few weeks, God knows I would never have married him. Nor would I have married George Weidler. But I was too young and too inexperienced to understand any of this. Now my heart was busted and I had lost my way.

The succession of cheerful, period musicals I made, plus Oscar Levant`s widely publicized remark about my virginity, contributed to what has been called my `image`, which is a word that baffles me. There never was any intent on my part either in my acting or in my private life to create any such thing as an image.

Middle age is youth without levity, and age without decay.

The really frightening thing about middle age is the knowledge that you`ll grow out of it.

[Recalling her only pleasant memories of Julie (1956)]: "Almost all of Julie was shot on location in Carmel, which is a lovely resort town a little south of San Francisco. My co-star was Louis Jourdan, whom I liked very much. An amiable man, very gentle, very much interested in the people around him; we had a good rapport and I found talking to him a joy .... We would take long walks on the beautiful Carmel beach, chatting by the hour".

The really frightening thing about middle age is that you know you`ll grow out of it.

If there is a Heaven I`m sure Rock (Hudson) is there because he was such a kind person.

Some of the downbeat pictures, in my opinion, should never be made at all. Most of them are made for personal satisfaction, to impress other actors who say `Oh, God! what a shot, what camera work!` But the average person in the audience, who bought his ticket to be entertained, doesn`t see that at all. He comes out depressed.

[On recording "Secret Love" for the movie Calamity Jane (1953)]: When I first heard "Secret Love" I almost fainted, it was so beautiful. When we finally got around to doing the pre-recording, Ray Heindorf, the musical director at Warner`s, said he`d get the musicians in about 12:30 so they could rehearse. That morning I did my vocal warm-up, then jumped on my bike and rode over to Warner`s - we lived in Toluca Lake at the time, which was just minutes from the studio. When I got there I sang the song with the orchestra for the first time. When I`d finished, Ray called me into the sound booth, grinning from ear to ear, and said, "That`s it. You`re never going to do it better." That was the first and only take we did.

The happiest times in my life were the days when I was traveling with Les (Brown) and his band.

(About Elizabeth Taylor`s diamonds) When I see Liz Taylor with those Harry Winston boulders hanging from her neck I get nauseated. Not figuratively, but nauseated! All I can think of are how many dog shelters those diamonds could buy.

I`m pulling for him every step of the way. - On President George W. Bush

[on Cary Grant] A completely private person, totally reserved, and there is no way into him.

[on Ronald Reagan] Ronnie is really the only man I`ve ever known who loved dancing.

I call him Ernie, because he`s certainly no Rock. - On Rock Hudson

If there is a Heaven I`m sure Rock Hudson is there because he was such a kind person.

Learning a part was like acting out the lyrics of a song.

I like joy; I want to be joyous; I want to have fun on the set; I want to wear beautiful clothes and look pretty. I want to smile and I want to make people laugh. And that`s all I want. I like it. I like being happy. I want to make others happy.

Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty.

The happiest times in my life were the days when I was traveling with Les Brown and his band.