Marianne Faithfull
I've learnt to accept what has happened to my voice, I suppose, but I do wish it didn't sound quite so rough.
I was told that I had very likely been clinically depressed for a long, long time, probably since I was 15, or even 14. It explained, to me at least, a lot of my behaviour over the years.
When I found out my mother wanted me to marry a rich man, I instantly didn't want any rich man.
I've got to where I've always wanted to be. I just feel more myself, and I've learned not to care what other people think. It's happened slowly, very slowly. But I did it.
For some people, marriage may be very groovy. For me, it really isn't. I don't think it really is for most people anyway. Most people are not very happy.
When you lose your reputation at 19, you lose everything.
My happiness is very fragile.
If I let myself sink into depression, I won't be able to get out. And then I'll be awfully unhappy. I just have to turn my face to the light and walk on. And trust that things will be all right.
I've got quite a good brain and all that, which I've never had to use in singing at all.
Of course I have regrets; I'm not stupid.
Sometimes you just have to get a shock to grow up and wake up, and I've had lots of shocks because it's as though I don't learn the lessons, so something new comes and hits me.
To be diagnosed with cancer was a frightening thing, and my first reaction was sheer panic, but I was really fortunate that the cancer was caught at such an early stage that I didn't need chemo or radiotherapy. But I know that cancer is a chronic condition, and once you've had it, you're on the list, because it can come back.
I think it's a great shame that America stopped being a republic and became an empire.
I'm interested in time, fame, death, beauty, truth, all those things.
I never saw myself as beautiful. I can look back and see it now, but then? Never.
I get all dressed up with that Marianne Faithfull face, and the next thing I know, I'm blurting out things that I shouldn't, trying to get attention when, really, I've got everybody's attention already.
I've got a lot of little compulsive problems, and I've thought about it a lot. And one of the things I ask myself is, 'What are the things I can do that won't hurt me and will help me?' The first answer is work.
I'm sick of being self-referential. I don't want to do any more songs that can be accused of being personal.
All I have to do is what's right for me.
I once asked my father what he wanted me to be. To my horror, he said, 'sociologist.'
I love the Stones, but I've gone to a lot of gigs.
I think you have to really, really want to be a film star.
Well, I really didn't enjoy some of the movies I did when I was young.
Never apologize, never explain - didn't we always say that? Well, I haven't and I don't.Collection: Apologizing
If you analyze the bad times you find that it's because you wanted to have a bad time.Collection: Bad Times
The nice thing about us lot is that what we do is of no consequence. We don't do things that are important; we spend our lives doing things which are not important. That's what's nice about us, we're not pompous. We never do anything very bad that's gonna change the world. We're not serious, we're butterflies. We live for a day.Collection: Nice
Feminism is the best thing to come out of the '60's.Collection: Feminism
I've made a contribution to my time and my generation through being myself, not through what I shared with the Rolling Stones. It's very bad for me and very dangerous to see myself as someone who had an influence on this song or that song. It immediately puts me in the position where my worth is dependent on how much of my soul I shared with Mick Jagger, and it's just not valid. You can use the gossip you've heard. You're not getting it from me.Collection: Song
I was anorexic in the 60s and 70s, although it wasn't called anorexia then. I thought people would be nicer to me if I looked very small and delicate, so food wasn't high on my agenda. But it is now.Collection: People
I do sometimes think I could have done without the drugs actually; that was a waste of time, and a huge risk. But then again, there's nothing I can change, so in a way regret is pointless.Collection: Music
I don't like the compression on compact discs. It's lacking in air, and it's lacking in majesty.Collection: Air
Relationships have a nasty habit of reversing themselves; whatever has been done to you in a previous involvement you'll do to the next person you're involved with, if you get half a chance.Collection: Done
It's always a good idea to get yourself a famous, rich, and groovy young man. That's one of the best-known methods of furthering your career.Collection: Men
I'm never, never sure which way to go. I'm full of unsureness. That's been a habit for years. I never really want to commit.Collection: Habit
When you split from someone, it doesn't have to mean that you don't love them anymore, you realize that the period of that particular romance is over. One always has to get out before one gets kicked out.Collection: Mean
I'm a tame actress. I get tired now that I'm entertaining day and night professionally. I think the only reason for going to a party is to pick up a good lay. When you've got a permanent boyfriend it's rather spoilt. Because the fun of a party is to flirt with everyone. I like flirting.Collection: Fun
I don't see decadence really as what you do, because I don't do much at all that is decadent in my life. But I still am decadent. It's a state of mind, I think.Collection: Thinking
I focus on the individual and not seeing this great big monster, "the press."Collection: Focus
It has been an extraordinary experience and, in many ways, extremely positive.Collection: Cancer
My first job was singing at the Hammersmith Odeon. It was years ago, so I can't remember who I was performing with. I was a sort of anti-climax after two hours of heavy rock-'n'-roll. Seventeen years old in a white dress. It was the first time that I got applause. Wonderful, that noise in my ears.Collection: Singing
I want to do movies, but I want to do something that's good. I don't want to make any more films until I feel that I'm ready for it. I want to have good work, and a very elegant life. I believe you get what you want.Collection: Believe
I'd love to make more money in America, that's the heart of it. I make much more money in Europe. It's a shame. I'm trying now to make a profit on this next tour, and I'll be much happier.Collection: Heart
You know the first objective is to get out of your hometown, second objective, get it together in the capital. The awful thing about left the school, is that you'd feel you'd be important. It would matter what you did.Collection: School
I'd really like people to see me as a real actress, which I am, but they don't. It's hard to get them to see me as a musician, they just see me as a hanger-on to the Stones, which is not what I am at all. It's a good idea, and if something like that would turn up I could do a whole television show. I've thought about playing a landlady, sort of a mad '60s lady, this absolutely insane character. I would love it. It's a great idea.Collection: Real
I like my work, but my life always comes first. I always wanted to have a beautiful life, and the way to do it is in show business.Collection: Beautiful
I do have a strong sense of God. It’s impossible to explain what I mean when I say that, of course.Collection: Strong