BESS MYERSON

I've lived through a lifetime of crises and survived.

Mama never told me, 'Bess, you did good.' She wanted the best for us and she was an incredible administrator. She ran those three kids, that house, the whole bit. But if I looked fine, she'd find something wrong - the color, the hem... I used to tell her, 'Mama, don't worry when you're not with me, because you're with me.'

Not only do I have celebrity, but I have notoriety, which is sometimes more seductive.

Even when I jog, I need a place to get to.

You cannot be beautiful and hate.

You've got to love people, places, ideas; you've got to live with mind, body, soul; you've got to be committed; there is no life on the side-lines.

All the praise I received couldn't substitute for the praise I had never received from my mother at home. I longed for some wonderful man to come and save me from my life - but there didn't seem to be any, at least not for me.

People want gimmicks. They have to lose 10 pounds by 8:30 tonight.

You can't be beautiful and hate because hate is a corroding disease and affects the way you look. ... You can't hide it - ever. It shows in your eyes. It warps your expression. It affects your character, your personality.

The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference.

Even when I jog, I need a place to get to.

Men go after me, and I choose among them.

People want gimmicks. They have to lose 10 pounds by 8:30 tonight.

On talk shows I ask myself, 'What am I doing here?'

I'm not conniving - that has a pejorative context. I'm not sitting in back rooms making deals. That's not my style.

I've lived through a lifetime of crises and survived.

I really don't like talking about diets.

I'm like a phoenix. I rise from the ashes.

I don't look upon my divorces as mistakes. Those marriages were right for the Bess that made that decision at that time.

All the praise I received couldn't substitute for the praise I had never received from my mother at home. I longed for some wonderful man to come and save me from my life - but there didn't seem to be any, at least not for me.

Mama never told me, 'Bess, you did good.' She wanted the best for us and she was an incredible administrator. She ran those three kids, that house, the whole bit. But if I looked fine, she'd find something wrong - the color, the hem... I used to tell her, 'Mama, don't worry when you're not with me, because you're with me.'

Not only do I have celebrity, but I have notoriety, which is sometimes more seductive.

The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference.

I never like other people to clean for me. I don't want them to invade my own privacy.

To fall in love is awfully simple, but to fall out of love is simply awful.

Once people have seen four or five Henry Moores, they will have a sense of great art.

You cannot be beautiful and hate.

You've got to love people, places, ideas; you've got to live with mind, body, soul; you've got to be committed; there is no life on the side-lines.

Everybody asks me, 'So, what are you doing now?' Why must I be doing something? All my life I've been doing something. All my life I've been doing. For now, I'm being -- being quiet, being grateful.

You can't be beautiful and hate because hate is a corroding disease and affects the way you look. ... You can't hide it - ever. It shows in your eyes. It warps your expression. It affects your character, your personality.