I lack self-confidence. I don't know whether I shall ever get it. Perhaps it is better to be unsure of your self, as I am. But it is very tiring.

How shall I sum up my life? I think I've been particularly lucky. Does that have something to do with faith also? I know my mother always used to say, 'Good things aren't supposed to just fall in your lap. God is very generous, but he expects you to do your part first.' So you have to make that effort. But at the end of a bad time or a huge effort, I've always had - how shall I say it? - the prize at the end. My whole life shows that.

There is a science of war, but how strange that there isn't a science of peace. There are colleges of war; why can’t we study peace?

The most important job in life is being a mom.

As a child, I was taught that it was bad manners to bring attention to yourself, and to never, ever make a spectacle of yourself ... All of which I've earned a living doing.

Can I have a silk nightgown with rosebuds on it?

In Holland and Belgium, and afterwards in England, my happiest moments were in the country. I've always had a passion for the outdoors, for trees, for birds and flowers.