Quotes from Jamie Lee Curtis

The biggest lesson I've learned from my children is to look in the mirror at myself, not at them. I've realized that everything I've done has had an impact on them. We have to understand that they are like little paparazzi. They take our picture when we don't want them to and then they show it to us in their behavior.

The parameters are such that I don't get offered a lot of work. I'm sure most directors hear my list of don'ts and say forget it.

The most rewarding aspect of parenting is seeing my children be authentic. The most rewarding thing for me is to see them do anything that they're proud of.

I was doing a children's book on self-esteem, and I really felt like I wanted to shed the shame I'd been feeling - and maybe make it easier for women my age who had probably felt bad about themselves.

I used to dream of being normal. For me, if Kirk Douglas walked into the house, that was normal.

I'm a human being who lives a flawed, contradictory life. And I have all sorts of problems and all sorts of successes.

Now all of a sudden I'm so less interested in pretending to be a lot of other people, and much more interested in being me.

I wasn't the kid who lined up her toys, although when it came to Barbies and that little traveling wardrobe with the drawers and the little shoes, my stuff was always on hangers and the shoes were always in pairs. Things had their places.

And I was ashamed of myself for feeling like I had to do that in order to look a certain way. I felt misshapen, just not natural anymore. And I think it was a big stimulator of my drug use.

I've had a little plastic surgery. I've had a little lipo. I've had a little Botox. And you know what? None of it works. None of it.

~As a mom, you have to look at how much time you're spending with your kids. There is nothing you will regret more in your life - nothing - than not being present for your children.~

There is a point when you aren't as much mom and daughter as you are adults and friends.

By the way, food and rent aren't the only things around here that cost money. You sleep on the couch.

My mother and stepfather were married 43 years, so I have watched a long marriage. I feel like I had a very good role model for that. And, you know, it's just a number.

I've been going through photos of my mother, looking back on her life and trying to put it into context. Very few people age gracefully enough to be photographed through their aging.

So, am I friendly with my daughter and her friends? Yes. Am I their friend? No. Does she shut the door? Yes, and I very much support the shut door.

The system is only as good as the person programming it. If you don't have the follow-through, your system is useless. And by the way, it's that way in parenting; it's that way in marriages.

I'm a disciplinarian. I'm the tough love pet owner. I believe in very well-behaved animals.

I'm a layperson. I barely got out of high school. I have no business telling people what to do or my big philosophy on life. I'm certainly not going to write any sort of memoir.

I feel very positive where I never did before, and I think that's all a direct result of getting sober.

I'm one of those people who does a lot of things. I'm lucky. I get up and I have a lot of energy. I have a great work ethic.

I think my capacity to change has given me tremendous happiness, because who I am today I am completely content to be.

Don't judge a book by its cover 'til you've read the book.

I've always put my family first and that's just the way it is.