Helen Hayes Quotes

"I seem always to have reminded people of someone in their family. Perhaps I am the triumph of Plain Jane."

"Every human being on this earth is born with a tragedy, and it isn`t original sin. He`s born with the tragedy that he has to grow up. That he has to leave the nest, the security, and go out to do battle. He has to lose everything that is lovely and fight for a new loveliness of his own making, and it`s a tragedy. A lot of people don`t have the courage to do it."

"If you rest, you rust."

"The truth is that there is only one terminal dignity - love. And the story of love is not important - what is important is that one is capable of love. It is perhaps the only glimpse we are permitted of eternity."

"Age is not important unless you`re a cheese."

"The hardest years in life are those between ten and seventy." Helen Hayes (at 73)

"I must refrain from talking too much about retirement. It`s beginning to sound absurd."

My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said that `achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others, and that`s nice, too, but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about success.`

Mere longevity is a good thing for those who watch Life from the side lines. For those who play the game, an hour may be a year, a single day`s work an achievement for eternity.

There is only one terminal dignity - love.

I cry out for order and find it only in art.