No press conference announcing a last film. I'd just steal away. Best way because, if by chance after two or three years something interesting comes up, I would not - like Sinatra - have to say: 'Well, I've thought it over and decided to come back.'

I can't bear being seen naked. I'm not exactly a tiny woman. When Sophia Loren is naked, this is a lot of nakedness.

True happiness is impossible without solitude.... I need solitude in my life as I need food and drink and the laughter of little children. Extravagant though it may sound, solitude is the filter of my soul. It nourishes me, and rejuvenates me. Left alone, I discovered that I keep myself good company.

Mistakes are the price of an interesting life.

There's no pleasure in working if you don't do the things you want to do.

I was not interested in what I could bring to myself by being an actress, but in what I could bring out of myself.

If you can learn to use your mind as well as your powder puff, you will become more truly beautiful.