Quotes from Dawn Steel

It hurt me deeply, this reputation as tough, hard, mean.

There's no training for the business, no credentials necessary to enter... It's all about entrepreneurs, innate street intelligence, and instincts. It's a business which encourages people with dreams. That's the essence of Hollywood.

I'm not Mary Poppins, but I think I functioned with integrity.

I felt more comfortable in TV than in the film world where the players were more erudite and intellectual.

I was trained to be loud, passionate, direct. I didn't realize for the longest time I was intimidating.

Foreign revenues are tremendously important, but foreign audiences are dying for American movies, not for films they could make themselves.

I just love the idea of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, whether it's the success of 'Cool Runnings,' which is the success of four guys from Jamaica who had never seen snow, or whether it's my success, just as a human being.

Dishonesty, lack of integrity catches up with you.

You have to persevere, you have to just not give up, and you have to know what you want. You have to be able to see your dream.

It wasn't until I saw 'Rocky' that I realized movies could affect people beyond mere entertainment.

In some ways I was curt because there's an unbelievable amount to accomplish in a day.

I don't know that I would say abrasive. In some ways, I was curt because there's an unbelievable amount to accomplish in a day, and maybe I was insensitive considering the pressures and responsibilities of these jobs.

We manufacture a culture in the movie business, and whatever we put out creates a dark side and a bright side, too.

I love stories about underdogs.

It's unfathomable how you live without your mother.

I'd like my epitaph to read 'Given the amount of time she had, she did the best job she could.' Also that I'm a nice person... and a good mother.

I don't want my child to have unhealthy values.

I was so busy climbing up this ladder, staying above the water. If there was only room for one woman in a room, I wanted to be her. I'm not proud of it. I certainly don't feel that way now. It was an absolute evolution for me.

I had an obsession with underarm shields - pointy ones, round ones, full ones, half ones.

I react to stress badly. I handle it better these days. But I'm a very straightforward person.

I was the first studio executive to meet with Sean Penn after 'Taps' in 1981. I was anxious to develop things with him when nobody knew who he was.

Some friends of mine had parents who made school a treat, a gift - not something to be endured.

Visibility is dangerous because if a guy cuts you off in traffic, you can't call him a name - it might get to the press.

I hate management. I hate management. I just do.