Miriam Margolyes Quotes

As an actor, one of my greatest fears is losing my memory.

At 60, I could do the same things I could do at 30, if I could only remember what those things are.

People are so damned afraid that one day they might wake up and discover that they've grown old.

In our world of sleek flesh and collagen, Botox and liposuction, what we most fear is the dissolution of the body-mind, the death of the brain.

If you build a career on being a beautiful young woman, that's going to be a short career. I have to establish I can act. I don't want to have to visit the plastic surgeon every two years.

My God. If I had known I was going to live this long, I would’ve taken better care of myself.... Since the alternative [to living with Alzheimer's Disease] is being dead, I am quite happy where I am.

Dementia is such a terrifying thing for all of us, and we are particularly bad at coping with old people in this country.

After the age of 80, everything reminds you of something else.

Ageing is something that both men and women are utterly terrified about.

Living a very long time would be a very scary thing.

My mind never left 20, because once it does, that's when you start to die.

Growing old on screen is not for the faint of heart.

With something like cancer, there is a feeling that you can fight it in some way or control your response to it, but with dementia there is the fear of losing control of your mind and your life.

As you get older three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two.

I couldn't get any of the ingenue roles when younger because at 5 feet 9 inches with a deep voice I was always too... genue. My career has completely happened since I was 29.

You know, I have found a new way to get high and stay spaced out for hours on end, and the government can't stop me... It's called senility.

If I really lose the rest of my memory, don't let my kids spend a lot of money to put me in an expensive care facility. If they treat me very well there, I will not remember it, and if they treat me badly I will not remember that either. So it really won't matter, will it?

It isn't so bad getting old. It really isn't. As long as I can stay healthy.

I survived turning 60, I was not thrilled to turn 61, I was less thrilled to turn 62, I didn't much like being 63, I loathed being 64, and I will hate being 65. I don't let on about such things in person; in person, I am cheerful and Pollyanna-ish. But the honest truth is that it's sad to be over 60.

Old is when people compliment your alligator shoes, and you're not wearing any.

You get to a point in your life where you go, 'I don't remember what I did.'

When you're 89, dementia develops. I mean, I've told a story onstage, and I'm telling it with a full heart, and I forgot the damn punch line.

There's no point living at my age with many ingrained great fears.

You know you're old when you're asked, 'Do you have hobbies?'

I just think there is a part of your brain that is supposed to be afraid of getting old, even if you're not really.