Mara Powell > Mara's Quotes

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
― Mae West

“I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.”
― Mae West

“Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.”
― Mae West

“Every man I meet wants to protect me. I can't figure out what from.”
― Mae West

“A dame that knows the ropes isn't likely to get tied up.”
― Mae West

“I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond.”
― Mae West

“Too much of a good thing can be wonderful!”
― Mae West

“Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often.”
― Mae West

“JUDGE: Are you trying to show contempt for this court?

MAE WEST: I was doin' my best to hide it.”
― Mae West

“I never loved another person the way I loved myself.”
― Mae West

“If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't fuck 'em!”
― John Waters

“It wasn't until I started reading and found books they wouldn't let us read in school that I discovered you could be insane and happy and have a good life without being like everybody else.”
― John Waters

“Being rich is not about how much money you have or how many homes you own; it's the freedom to buy any book you want without looking at the price and wondering if you can afford it.”
― John Waters, Role Models

“I've had it with being nice, understanding, fair and hopeful. I feel like being negative all day. The chip on my shoulder could sink the QE2. I've got an attitude problem and nobody better get in my way...I'm in a bad mood and the whole stupid little world is gonna pay!”
― John Waters, Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters

“You should never read just for "enjoyment." Read to make yourself smarter! Less judgmental. More apt to understand your friends' insane behavior, or better yet, your own. Pick "hard books." Ones you have to concentrate on while reading. And for god's sake, don't let me ever hear you say, "I can't read fiction. I only have time for the truth." Fiction is the truth, fool! Ever hear of "literature"? That means fiction, too, stupid.”
― John Waters, Role Models

“We need to make books cool again. If you go home with somebody and they don't have books, don't fuck them.”
― John Waters

“I'm always amazed at friends who say they try to read at night in bed but always end up falling asleep. I have the opposite problem. If a book is good I can't go to sleep, and stay up way past my bedtime, hooked on the writing. Is anything better than waking up after a late-night read and diving right back into the plot before you even get out of bed to brush your teeth?”
― John Waters, Role Models

“Life is nothing if you're not obsessed.”
― John Waters

“You have to remember that it is impossible to commit a crime while reading a book.”
― John Waters

“True success is figuring out your life and career so you never have to be around jerks.”
― John Waters, Role Models

“Contemporary art hates you.”
― John Waters

“I always wanted to be a juvenile delinquent but my parents wouldn't let me.”
― John Waters

“Nothing is more impotent than an unread library.”
― John Waters, Role Models

“I could never kill myself. I approve of suicide if you have horrible health. Otherwise it's the ultimate hissy fit.”
― John Waters

“My favourite characters are people who think they’re normal but they’re not. I live in Baltimore, and it’s full of people like that. I’ve also lived in New York, which is full of people who think they’re crazy, but they’re completely normal. I get my best material in Baltimore – you get dialogue that you just couldn’t imagine. I asked this guy in a bar what he did for a living and he said he traded deer meat for crack. I never realised that job even existed. You could make a whole movie about that person. And he was kind of cute too, if you could ignore his eyes rolling around his head. Although I did crack once, accidentally, and I thought: Oh my God, what, am I gonna rob my parents now? I prefer poppers – they’re legal in London, right? I used to do them on roller coasters. They’re illegal in Provincetown, which is the gay fishing village where I live in the summer. In the airport there are signs warning you to get rid of your poppers.”
― John Waters

“I respect everything I make fun of.”
― John Waters

“My idea of an interesting person is someone who is quite proud of their seemingly abnormal life and turns their disadvantage into a career.”
― John Waters, Shock Value: A Tasteful Book about Bad Taste

“To me, beauty is looks you can never forget. A face should jolt, not soothe.”
― John Waters, Shock Value: A Tasteful Book about Bad Taste

“My hobby is extreme Catholic behavior -- BEFORE the Reformation.”
― John Waters

“The only insult I've ever received in my adult life was when someone asked me, "Do you have a hobby?" A HOBBY?! DO I LOOK LIKE A FUCKING DABBLER?!”
― John Waters, Role Models