Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.

When one door closes, another window opens.

Behaving like a princess is work. It's not just about looking beautiful or wearing a crown. It's more about how you are inside.

Some people regard discipline as a chore. For me, it is a kind of order that sets me free to fly.

Sometimes opportunities float right past your nose. Work hard, apply yourself, and be ready. When an opportunity comes you can grab it.

Who could have imagined that life would have taken such marvelous twists and turns or that I would often be so fortunate to be in the right place at the right time?

All love shifts and changes. I don't know if you can be wholeheartedly in love all the time.

Sometimes I'm so sweet even I can't stand it.

The arts bridge cultures; they're good for the economy, and they're good for fostering empathy and decency.

Whenever I think of my birthplace, Walton-on-Thames, my reference first and foremost is the river. I love the smell of the river; love its history, its gentleness. I was aware of its presence from my earliest years. Its majesty centered me, calmed me, was a solace to a certain extent.

Like most girls, I fantasized about being some sort of a princess.

I love my garden. I love my privacy. I'm very fierce about it. I try not to let too many people into my home. That's my private place.

I think every young girl at some point in her early life wonders what it's like to be a princess. They like the idea of dressing up and the fun of it.

You just don't know in life. Life knocks you about and pushes you over boundaries. But be ready. Do your homework; that's all I can say.

I had a teacher who stressed for me the importance of diction in terms of... I want to be very careful about how I say this... in terms of supporting one's voice when one is singing. In other words, if you hold on to your words, your voice will pull through for you when you're singing. So be true to your vowels.

I hate the word wholesome.

I love that President and Mrs. Obama are embracing the arts. I am so delighted.

Did you ever notice the color of Mary Poppins' petticoats? They were kind of orange and apricot and red. I think she had a secret life going on there.

I'm never sure one is exactly ready. You jump in, with both feet, into a very big fish pond.

I am told that the first comprehensible word I uttered as a child was 'home.'

I think birth and motherhood are not things that you're trained to do. You might have a good example in your own mum, but nobody teaches you how to be a really great mum.

I don't want to be thought of as wholesome.

I am an optimistic lady.

I do wish somewhere there was a film of our stage production of 'My Fair Lady.'

I had toured around England endlessly throughout my teens, but when I came to the U.S. to perform on Broadway, that was a huge step.

I play with my grandchildren. I tend to my garden, which I love. Of course, I love to read, and family is really what it's all about.

I thought it was all a flash in the pan. It wasn't until Broadway came along that I felt I had really made it.

I am very proud to be British. I'm very conscious of carrying my country with me wherever I go. I feel I need to represent it well.

On the whole, I think women wear too much and are to fussy. You can't see the person for all the clutter.

More than anything, the arts are the best teaching tool.

I've always admired gardens. My father was a great nature lover and would always take me for walks. We lived not too far away from huge rhododendron estates and azalea estates, and when they're in bloom in England, they're just riotous.

I don't think today's younger audience... would even know what 1920s musicals were like.

I would be a fool to deny my own abilities.

I did all of my learning on 'My Fair Lady.'

I've made my pact with the Lord for the next lifetime. I would love to be a first-class musician. A super one.

I turned down 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brody' with Maggie Smith. I think she got the Academy Award.

All careers go up and down like friendships, like marriages, like anything else, and you can't bat a thousand all the time.

I am thrilled to be dame. It's one of those - the fact that you have been honored by your country is what it's all about, and it just feels good right there.

I come from a long line of below-stairs maids and gardeners. Good ol' peasant stock. My mother and her sister made a quantum leap out of that life. Then I made another quantum leap.

I justified working so hard by knowing that I was helping to maintain the roof over our heads.

I'd say just go with the flow. And I take my hat off to any mother out there who works full-time and raises a family as well. It's hard work.

I was a child prodigy who had a freak voice of something like four octaves.

If you've been fortunate enough to do a film that appeals to the entire family, that's the audience that's probably going to come back to you in something else.

I adored my birth father and constantly worried that I was being disloyal to him and his schoolteacher roots if I spent too much time performing and enjoying it.

I've got a good right hook.

When I've least expected it, an enormous opportunity or stroke of luck has crossed right under my nose. So I tell everybody, if you're passionate about what you do and you love it, do it. But do your homework. Because you'll never know when the opportunity is going to happen.

I love to prune my roses. That's the one thing I really feel I do pretty well. Other things I usually, because I travel so much, leave to my gardeners who know what I love. But I do love to prune them, because you forget everything else. It's like if you're a painter, you can forget everything else while you're doing it.

For me, whenever I choose a song to sing, it's about the lyric first.

I was named after my two grandmothers - Julia Elizabeth.

Because of the Thames I have always loved inland waterways - water in general, water sounds - there's music in water. Brooks babbling, fountains splashing. Weirs, waterfalls; tumbling, gushing.