The only way to enjoy anything in this life is to earn it first.
Ginger Rogers
Looking back at my life's voyage, I can only say that it has been a golden trip.
Sure, jets are fast and economical, but, oh my, what fun we've lost and what leisure we've sacrificed in the race to efficiency. Somehow, stepping onto a plane and zooming across the United States in a matter of hours doesn't hold a candle to the dear, old-fashioned train ride.
I believe in dressing for the occasion. There's a time for sweater, sneakers and Levis and a time for the full-dress jazz.
You know, there's nothing damnable about being a strong woman. The world needs strong women. There are a lot of strong women you do not see who are guiding, helping, mothering strong men. They want to remain unseen. It's kind of nice to be able to play a strong woman who is seen.
When two people love each other, they don't look at each other, they look in the same direction.
My love for ice cream emerged at an early age - and has never left!
I enjoy sports, and love being involved in any outdoor sport from volleyball to softball. I'm not being immodest when I say I'm a natural athlete.
Perhaps I am old-fashioned, but black and white films still hold an affectionate place in my heart; they have an incomparable mystique and mood.
Part of the joy of dancing is conversation. Trouble is, some men can't talk and dance at the same time.
Even married people have differences of opinion, I'm told.
My mother told me I was dancing before I was born. She could feel my toes tapping wildly inside her for months.
The most important thing in anyone's life is to be giving something. The quality I can give is fun and joy and happiness. This is my gift.
People are still people no matter how you cut it.
While I was making my solo films, RKO was busily trying to get me and Fred Astaire back together. The studio wanted to capitalize on the success of 'Flying Down to Rio' and realized that the pairing of Rogers and Astaire had moneymaking potential.
I try to feed my hunger rather than my appetite.
Gossip is hardly uplifting.
I cannot abide stupidity, in myself or in others.
I traveled with my mother, Lela, and there was never enough money. I always had to roll down my silk stockings and carry a doll when we bought train tickets so I could go half-fare. If we had $3, we always figured how to tip for the trunks and still eat.
I yearned for a long, happy marriage with one person.
Over the years, myths were built up about my relationship with Fred Astaire. The general public thought he was a Svengali, who snapped his fingers for his little Trilby to obey; in their eyes, my career was his creation.
My faith in humanity leads me to believe that people are looking for something more elevating than the sordid details of the intimate aspects of one's personal life.
There's a verse in the Bible: 'Those who are barren have more children than those who give birth.' There are young people all over the world who come to me for advice and love. I have all the children I can handle.
I won't go to movies with permissiveness, four-letter words, or violence. Show me 'E.T.' and 'Chariots of Fire' instead. That's entertainment, not exploitation of the human body.
I had been making films for almost ten years, and the head men at RKO thought of me only in terms of musicals. I found no fault with that, except I just couldn't stand being typed or pigeonholed as only a singing and dancing girl. I wanted to extend my range.
Only I know my life.
'Flying Down to Rio' established RKO as a leader in musical film production throughout the 1930s. The film helped to rescue the studio from its financial straits and it gave a real boost to my movie career.
You bring out a lot of your own thoughts and attitudes when acting. I think a great deal of it has to do with the inner you.
One thing I turn my back on totally is the unsavory atmosphere at most discos.
At the age of ten, I thought if a boy kissed you on the lips, you would have a baby, and I surely wasn't the only youngster who believed that!
My mother was a journalist, so writing is not unnatural to me.
During my seven-year contract with RKO, there were seven different studio presidents, from David O. Selznick to Charles W. Koerner. You literally had to check the name on the door so as not to call the new boss by the former boss's name.
I don't disagree with seeing a Rubens of a nude body, but I don't believe in a nude body in action. With Rubens, thank goodness, they aren't in action.
I made my last motion picture in March 1965 for Magna Pictures. 'Harlow,' based on the life of actress Jean Harlow... I didn't know at the time that 'Harlow' would be my last motion picture.
Rhythm is born in all of us. To be a desirable dancing partner, you don't have to do all the intricate fancy steps that happen to be in vogue. All you have to do is be a good average dancer, and anybody who spends the time and effort can accomplish this.
Like most actors, I've always been grateful for Chinese restaurants; they were often the only places that stayed open late enough for performers to get hot food after the show.
The kids today, they think they can dance with their faces.
