There was no place at all for me in my father's military world.

I think all this talk about age is foolish. Every time I'm one year older, everyone else is too.

Writing the story of your own life is a bit like drilling your own teeth.

Nobody gets something for nothing.

I consider anybody who weighs over 200 pounds fat, and time was when I could not refrain from telling such people so.

So they were turning, after all - those cameras. Life, which can be strangely merciful, had taken pity on Norma Desmond. The dream she had clung to so desperately had enfolded her. Norma: You see, this is my life. It always will be! (In a whisper) There's nothing else - just us - and the cameras - and those wonderful people out there in the dark. All right, Mr. De Mille, I'm ready for my close-up.

Much as I cared for Joseph Kennedy, he was a classic example of that person in the arts with lots of brains and drive but little taste or talent.