Diane Keaton Quotes: Lessons on Life, Love, and Acting

Diane Keaton is a renowned American actress, director, and producer. Over the years, she has shared many pearls of wisdom on a variety of topics, from her views on love and relationships to her experiences in the entertainment industry. In this article, we explore some of Diane Keaton’s most inspiring quotes and the lessons we can learn from them.

Introduction

• Who is Diane Keaton?
• Why is she an important figure in the entertainment industry?

Diane Keaton on Life

• “The best things in life are unexpected – because there were no expectations.”
• “The excitement of learning separates youth from old age. As long as you’re learning, you’re not old.”
• “I have a very optimistic view of life. Life has been good to me. It’s not like I deserve it or anything, but, dammit, it’s been good!”
• “Life is short. I’m 70 years old, and I’m gonna die. And I know that. So I’m going to enjoy every single day.”

Diane Keaton on Love and Relationships

• “I don’t think that because I’m not married it’s made my life any less. That old maid myth is garbage.”
• “The simplest things in life give me the most pleasure: cooking a good meal, enjoying my friends.”
• “I have a desire to experience more of life than a relationship with one man.”
• “My idea of Heaven used to be relaxing at home with a good book or movie. Now I don’t know what Heaven is. Maybe having someone who believes in you and loves you, really loves you for who you are, maybe that’s Heaven.”

Diane Keaton on Acting

• “I think that people who are famous tend to be underdeveloped in their humanity skills.”
• “I love acting. It’s so much more real than life.”
• “I’m not a movie star. I’m just an actress. I’m called a movie star because I guess I’m photogenic and I’ve been in a lot of movies. But I’m not a big deal.”

Conclusion

• Recap of Diane Keaton’s quotes and lessons learned
• Final thoughts on Diane Keaton’s impact on the entertainment industry and society

Phrases

-Just have fun. Smile. And keep putting on lipstick.

-Memories are simply moments that refuse to be ordinary.

-I’ve always loved independent women, outspoken women, eccentric women, funny women, flawed women. When someone says about a woman, ‘I’m sorry, that’s just wrong,’ I tend to think she must be doing something right.

-Humor helps us get through life with a modicum of grace. It offers one of the few benign ways of coping with the absurdity of it all.

-A sense of freedom is something that, happily, comes with age and life experience.

-This living stuff is a lot. Too much, and not enough. Half empty, and half full.

-We can grow gracefully, or gorgeously. I pick both.

-Even though all these obstacles keep coming at you, you just have to keep going through them. Because it’s worth it to do something in your life, as opposed to fantasizing about doing something.

-Life is short and experiences with remarkable people are rare.

-What is perfection, anyway? It’s the death of creativity.

-I don’t think that because I’m not married it’s made my life any less. That old-maid myth is garbage.

-Here is my biggest takeaway after 60 years on the planet: There is great value in being fearless. For too much of my life, I was too afraid, too frightened by it all. That fear is one of my biggest regrets.

-What makes a heroine? I think I can answer that. A heroine is a woman who risks going too far in order to find out how far one can go for a cause greater than herself.

-I have a policy about fear: It cripples the soul, so you just have to fight it.

-I never understood the idea that you’re supposed to mellow as you get older. Slowing down isn’t something I relate to at all. The goal is to continue in good and bad, all of it.

-Choosing the freedom to be uninteresting never quite worked for me.

We can’t save the past or solve the riddle of love. But to me, it’s worth trying.

-Pretty is a self-serving situation in which it’s all about you. People who are pretty are superficial, but they are not beautiful. Beauty requires more depth.

-I’ve done all kinds of things I said I wouldn’t do and, of course, now I’m glad. Thrilled.

-It’s kind of true, you do disappear off the planet if you are a middle-aged woman, but that has some advantages as well.

-I’ve never really looked back.

-When I was young, I wanted my appearance to be more interesting than what surrounded me. Now the body part I like best is my eyes, because they bring beauty to me.

-My mother always said that everyone should be required to write an autobiography of their lives.

-I don’t want to watch [films I was acting in]. I’ve had enough of me.

-My mother always said that everyone should be required to write an autobiography of their lives.

-My mother was really my partner in every project that I had. She was just the great enabler of my dreams.

-Permanence can only be found in the immortality offered by the click of a camera. Like it or not, life moves on as fleetingly as the photograph is enduring.

-My mother was a listener. I’m a talker. I’m very comfortable talking.

-I build a wall around myself. I’m hard to get to know. Any trait you have, it gets worse as you go along.

-I’m not a wine connoisseur, but I do like a glass or two at night.

-The best relationships develop out of friendships.

-It’s not fun to see myself in the mirror.

-I spent a lot of time protecting myself. I mean, I’ve met a lot of extraordinary people over the years – and I just wish I had been able to open myself up to them more.

-I had a career and I came to motherhood late and am not married and have never had such a trusting relationship with a man – and trust is where the real power of love comes from.

-I said I would never go to a psychiatrist, and I spent much of my life in psychoanalysis.

-There are a lot of movies I feel good about. It was a great experience that I was lucky enough to be there in it. That’s the way I feel.

-I wish I had put myself out there a little bit more and experienced people more instead of protecting myself.

-My thinking about plastic surgery is this. I haven’t had it, but never say never. Because when you do, you are definitely going to go there.

-I don’t think so much anymore. When you’re younger, and at your height, then people want you to do that great one again. But seriously, things are forgotten, and that’s the truth.

-Somehow weddings bring out the most insane moments in people’s lives.

-I’m proud of “Shoot the Moon.”

-I don’t carry little purses. I carry big duffels, always.

-Without a great man writing and directing for me, I realised I was a mediocre movie star at best.

-The exhausting effort to control time by altering the effects of age doesn’t bring happiness

-Why black and white? Because color can be too demanding.

-As an actress, I’m drawn to emotion and expressing the human condition in all its forms, and I’m fortunate to have thoughts and feelings at my fingertips.

-Being a movie star is a rare job. Nobody gives you any guarantees that you’ll get to do it forever. It’s a very lucky and privileged position to be in.

-I think the growth of the brain is a slow process. But you do change and the more you accept change and embrace change, the better.

-I’m a hoarder. For me, documentation has always been key, and I’ve kept everything from my past.

-I do believe in saving shoes. But that does not make me a hoarder. I am not a hoarder. But why not save them? Styles come back.

-I rarely get the “Annie Hall” references other than from people who are aficionados of movies, people who really care about movies. But in general, people don’t even think about it.

-You don’t really think about [career] much, because in a way it seems like another time and a different person.

-My daughter fell in love with Ben Barnes, of course. She’s 17. What are you gonna do? That was a tragic loss. He didn’t fall in love with her.

-There’s also a certain segment that doesn’t know what “Annie Hall” is. Seriously, it’s true.

-I have younger kids, and I adopted them late in life. They don’t know these people [from Annie Hall] at all.

-Robin Williams, another person I didn’t know. He is genuinely hilarious.

-What I like about that is it kind of puts you in your place. Don’t count on being remembered. Just live now, you know?

-Topher Grace is a really smart guy, and he really thinks about [acting].

-[Topher Grace] is thought about what he’s going to do and he has a lot of ideas. So there’s that.

-Working with Nancy Meyers (“Something’s Gotta Give”) and … Charles Shyer (“Father of the Bride”), and I’m proud of “Reds,” and I’m proud of my movies with Woody (Allen).

-Amanda (Seyfried) has this dog that goes everywhere with her.

-Robert De Niro is just evolved as a human being. He’s a very kind guy. Age has been good for him, in terms of just, he’s very kind.

-Robert De Niro, even though I’ve been in two other movies with him, I never really got to know him at all. But on this movie [“The Big Wedding”] I did.

-The thing is, though, that some of these people are my age, right? And I didn’t know them. I didn’t know Susan Sarandon. I mean, I’d seen her.

-By the way, everybody approaches acting differently. Like, I’m kind of sloppy and I like it kind of loose. I like to kind of play around. Some people don’t.

-acting is a wild ride, shared in the company of other actors.
Diane Keaton