When I was much younger, I sometimes felt rejected by feminists because of an image that I sold because it paid the bills. Any fool could tell my hair is dyed.

Success breeds success, and failure leads to a sort of fallow period.

I'm sure people in the business have said: She's too old for that part. I don't hear about it because your agent protects you from those negative things.

As we have more women in power, so the plays and the TV dramas are reflecting what's happening.

The girl-next-door image is a sort of joke; for years, I couldn't get any roles other than as somebody dark.

When I was much younger, I sometimes felt rejected by feminists because of an image that I sold because it paid the bills. Any fool could tell my hair is dyed.

Every woman feels she is too old and has missed the boat.

I think you have to relax about aging. What else can you do?

I hope to start enjoying flirting again when I'm 70, like my mother did.

I do still get the odd fan letter about The Good Life, clearly written by somebody aged 18, who says: Will you send a photograph? And I think: Maybe it's kinder not to. I'm deeply into my 50s now.

When I was little I always thought I was marked out, special, on the verge of something momentous. I used to tingle with anticipation.

For me, compatibility is a sense of humour, being able to laugh together; that is very important.

So many roles for women demand that you make the audience fall in love with you or sympathise with you.

A lot of my close friends are nothing to do with show business. But the people I've had relationships with, invariably, I've worked with. I think that's probably because I grew up in a family where we all worked together, so it's something I feel comfortable with.

I did try fillers once. Don't ever have fillers because when your cheekbones are high, it's chipmunk time.

I don't think I've ever not had a dark side. But one of the wonderful reasons why you go into this business is that half your life you live in a fantasy, which is somebody else's life. It's actually a great release because you're not having to deal with the itty-bitty bits of life.

I haven't done fillers or Botox for ages. There comes a point where you have to match bits of you with the other bits; otherwise, you get a terribly random situation.

I love a mask. It's why I've got a thing about good writing. When you're acting, you're going into someone else's work. You're behind his words; it's not you.

I love gentle, gorgeous classical music such as Mozart.

I really do believe there are things passed down. Behaviour, not just DNA. Psychological make-up. You can see it in dogs. If you want to breed a calm dog, don't get two fighters.

I think in the acting world you either manage that transition to older roles, or you stick with what you've always done and then discover nobody can bear you doing it as an older person.

I think very few people do find a relationship where, every moment of every day, everything they do comes together. That's why, in a nutshell, everyone loved Barbara in 'The Good Life.' She was the perfect partner. It was a formula. She wasn't glamorous. She wasn't clever. But she was a good partner. That's too easy, too perfect.

I wouldn't trade anything for family time. To me, it is more important than everything else, and I have a very deep-rooted belief in it, which is influenced by my Jewish faith. That's a very great source of who I am and what I believe in.

It's difficult to say what attracts one person to another. It's always a combination, isn't it? I've always found people interesting because of the way they think, and a sense of humour is irresistible.

It's nice not to have lines when you frown, especially on TV. I don't know why people make such a fuss about it. No one is interested if a woman has her teeth capped or her hair dyed.

The gym is where I get my chill-out time. I try to go six days a week, but when I'm working, that goes down to about three.

We take ourselves so seriously moment by moment, but India shows you a sense of eternity. You're one little ant on a hill. You're part of life, but you're not the whole thing.

I don't think, until you've actually lost somebody you really love, that you can go through that door that allows you to be grown-up.

The wise are wise only because they love. The fool are fools only because they think they can understand love.

Fortune makes a fool of those she favors too much.

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

Many a man is praised for his reserve and so-called shyness when he is simply too proud to risk making a fool of himself.

A good businessman never makes a contract unless he's sure he can carry it through, yet every fool on earth is perfectly willing to sign a marriage contract without considering whether he can live up to it or not.

The biggest fool in the world is he who merely does his work supremely well, without attending to appearance.

People have discovered that they can fool the devil; but they can't fool the neighbors.

Everyone calls himself a friend, but only a fool relies on it; nothing is commoner than the name, nothing rarer than the thing.

Anyone who works is a fool. I don't work - I merely inflict myself upon the public.

A fool often fails because he thinks what is difficult is easy.

He who hesitates is a damned fool.

It's easy to fool the eye but it's hard to fool the heart.

The greatest misfortune of the wise man and the greatest unhappiness of the fool are based upon convention.

The reality is, it will be a significant conflict going for many, many months, if not longer. Saddam Hussein is not a fool. He hasn't been sitting there waiting to get shot for 13 years.

Sometimes the fool who rushes in gets the job done.

A learned fool is more a fool than an ignorant fool.

Any fool can write a novel but it takes real genius to sell it.

Nothing gives us courage more readily than the desire to avoid looking like a damn fool.

There was a time when a fool and his money were soon parted, but now it happens to everybody.

The best servants of the people, like the best valets, must whisper unpleasant truths in the master's ear. It is the court fool, not the foolish courtier, whom the king can least afford to lose.

You give me nothing during your life, but you promise to provide for me at your death. If you are not a fool, you know what I wish for!