“I don’t think Garbo with her clothes off, panting in a brass bed, would have been more sexy than she was.”

“I admire nudity and I like sex, and so did a lot of people in the Thirties. But, to me, overexposure blunts the fun…Sex as something beautiful may soon disappear. Once it was a knife so finely honed the edge was invisible until it was touched and then it cut deep. Now it is so blunt that it merely bruises and leaves ugly marks. Nudity is fine in the privacy of my own bedroom with the appropriate partner. Or for a model in life class at art school. Or as portrayed in stone and paint. But I don’t like it used as a joke or to titillate. Or be so bloody frank about.”

“I refuse to admit that I am more than fifty-two, even if that does make my sons illegitimate.”

“My vigour, vitality, and cheek repel me. I am the kind of woman I would run from.”

“In passing, also, I would like to say that the first time Adam had a chance he laid the blame on a woman.”

“One reason I don't drink is that I want to know when I am having a good time.”

“Why don't you come sober, Prime Minister?[The answer she gave to Churchill when he asked about what disguise he should wear to a masquerade ball]”