I really wanted to be an opera soprano.

In the beginning it was all black and white.

I'm terrified about the day that I enter the gates of heaven and God says to me, just a minute.

Henry Fonda gave me a spanking during a scene in Spencer's Mountain.

I have never lost my faith in God.

I didn't let anyone push me into things I didn't want to do where my career was concerned. So why did I crumble when it came to men?

Charles Laughton signed me to my first movie contract at 17. He later asked my parents if he could adopt me.

I was born into the most remarkable and eccentric family I could possibly have hoped for.

I'm really honestly terrified about how much I should tell and how much I should still keep secret.

I dainty little lass I wasn't. I looked twice my age until I turned 10 or 11.

As the 1960s began, a new breed of Hollywood leading lady was emerging. She was elegant, international, and wonderfully comedic.

I watch and listen to movies today and am shocked by the way actors deliver their lines. Everybody mumbles now and I don't understand why.

I really wanted to be an opera soprano.

Making movies is just like betting on horses at the racetrack.

I don't remember having a crush on a boy when I was a girl. I don't even remember my first kiss.

How could you get angry with Jackie Gleason?

Every star has that certain something that stands out and compels us to notice them.

I had always been a tomboy - I still am, at heart.

When I was young, I was told that I had a sulky, pouty face.

My heritage has been my grounding, and it has brought me peace.

When How Green Was My Valley finally wrapped, I thought John Ford was a walking god.

I am like many of the women I have played onscreen.

The Parent Trap gave my career another boost, starring in family comedies.

There's a terrible truth for many women in the picture business: Aging typically takes its toll and means fewer and less desirable roles.

I grew up in the theater and danced ballet atrociously.

How could you have had such a wonderful life as me if there wasn't a God directing?

I saw myself as Joan of Arc.

The Queen Mary was the most civilized and luxurious way one could travel to America in the late 1930s.

The studio thought I was crazy to perform all of my own fencing stunts, but I loved it.

Audiences in London called me the girl with the black cherry eyes.

Comedy is difficult, especially slapstick. The trick is to have fun while you are performing it.

Some time ago, I told Larry King that I planned to live to be 102. I still do.

When you try to battle with John Ford, you have to give in.

I spent a great deal of time with Che Guevara while I was in Havana. I believe he was far less a mercenary than he was a freedom fighter.

My whole life was foretold to me. An old Romany gypsy read my fortune.

Above all else, deep in my soul, I'm a tough Irishwoman.

John Candy knew he was going to die. He told me on his 40th birthday. He said, well, Maureen, I'm on borrowed time.

John Wayne was one of the greatest ambassadors for the United States that ever lived.

I knew that Jamaica Inn was going to make me a star.

God has a most wicked sense of humor.

The depth of John Candy's talent did surprise me. He was one of my all-time favorite leading men.

Lost in a crowd of greats, not a single Oscar. That's showbiz.

After I got to Hollywood, I resented that I didn't get a crack at more dramatic roles because I photographed so beautifully.

The Parent Trap wouldn't have been as special without the remarkable performances by Hayley Mills.

I dont remember having a crush on a boy when I was a girl. I dont even remember my first kiss.

Soap opera wouldn't be my first choice, but at this point in my life, I would consider a soap. It would allow me to act and still do other things with my life.

I love opera, I love writing for the voice, I love telling stories with music.

Of all the noises known to man, opera is the most expensive.

I would just like to say that opera is no longer about fat people in breastplates shattering wine glasses.