Jane Fonda

Jane: (on her decision to never have plastic surgery) I realized that I'm going to be 70 in a year, and I have chosen not to have any more plastic surgery. Sally Field and I have kind of made a pact about that. We need women friends, women who challenge us. It's really hard, especially if you're a public person. But I want to give a face to aging.

Jane: Just watching Bette Davis on the screen was empowering to women, I think. Certainly was to me. It was like: This is what's possible. This is the range and depth that is possible for a woman.

Jane: My mother killed herself when I was 12. I won't complete that relationship. But I can try to understand her.

Jane: In my mind it takes a special kind of courage to risk your life in another country, for your own country. The men and women who came back and spoke out were a special kind of hero.

Jane: I don't think there's anything more important than making peace before it's too late. And it almost always falls to the child to try to move toward the parent.

Jane: (about aging) I don't want my wrinkles taken away... I don't want to look like everyone else.

Jane: Contraception is important. Making contraception available doesn't lead to promiscuity. But much more is needed than just contraception.

Jane: I wish that I'd been able to have a class like this when I had my first kid, because I was not a good mother... And then, you end up paying for it later.

Jane: I'm proud I went to North Vietnam because Nixon was lying to us.

Jane: If you don't have a parent or an adult, a teacher or a mentor... really see you, really love you, "Yes, there are things you do I don't like, but you're fantastic, you're good enough. I love you." If that never happens to a child, the child assumes it's her fault and tries to compensate for it.

Jane: If you're ever in a situation where you're not getting served or you can't get what you need, just cry.

Jane: (about her history) The reason why I left 15 years ago was because it was becoming agony for me... But I'm a very different person, so I wondered if it would be fun again. You know, why not?

Jane: But the whole point of liberation is that you get out. Restructure your life. Act by yourself.

Jane: I don't know if a country where the people are so ignorant of reality and of history, if you can call that a free world.

Jane: It's never too late... never too late to start over, never too late to be happy.

Jane: (on being an actor) I'm an assistant storyteller. It's like being a waiter or a gas-station attendant, but I'm waiting on six million people a week, if I'm lucky.

Jane: Working in Hollywood does give one a certain expertise in the field of prostitution.

Jane: You can do one of two things; just shut up, which is something I don't find easy, or learn an awful lot very fast which is what I tried to do.

Jane: My husband said he wanted to have a relationship with a redhead, so I dyed my hair.

Jane: Women are not forgiven for aging. Robert Redford's lines of distinction are my old-age wrinkles.

Jane: To be a revolutionary you have to be a human being. You have to care about people who have no power.

Jane: (about her third husband) Ted needs someone to be there 100% of the time. He thinks that's love. It's not love - it's babysitting.

Jane: If the career you have chosen has some unexpected inconvenience, console yourself by reflecting that no career is without them.

Jane: Telling lies and showing off to get attention are mistakes I made that I don't want my kids to make.

Jane: We cannot always control our thoughts, but we can control our words, and repetition impresses the subconscious, and we are then master of the situation.

Jane: When you can't remember why you're hurt, that's when you're healed.