Quotes from Emma Thompson

The trouble with death is that there is no next.

Shooting Willoughby carrying Marianne up the path. They did it four times. 'Faster,' said Ang [Lee]. They do it twice more. 'Don't pant so much,' said Ang. Greg [Wise (playing Willoughby)], to his great credit, didn't scream.

Horror. I can't manage it. I become--well--horrified. Self-help books have a similar effect. When asked, Any literary genre you simply can't be bothered with? - (By the Book: Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from the NYT Book Review, by Pamela Paul)

Hugh G. in a spot of bother up LA, apparently. Something to do with a blow job. It's all right for some, I thought.

I think books are like people, in the sense that they'll turn up in your life when you most need them

I've never been on the cover of Empire. I'm very bitter. I've got an award but now I feel sad and cross.

I've realized that in all the great stories, even if there's a happily-ever-after ending, there's something sad.

Being disabled should not mean being disqualified from having access to every aspect of life.

The thing that influenced me most in relation to 'Nanny McPhee' were the Westerns I watched with my father. All the Spaghetti Westerns; all the Virginians; all the High Chaparrals. Because if you think about the form, it's a stranger from out of town.

We need men and women to sit down and talk to each other about sex honestly and openly. That would help us fight Aids so immediately. But our lack of communication is hugely problematic.

But when I lose my temper, I find it difficult to forgive myself. I feel I've failed. I can be calm in a crisis, in the face of death or things that hurt badly. I don't get hysterical, which may be masochistic of me.

It is remarkable how many misconceptions there are here about life in the developing world and I think that that knowledge gap has done a lot to contribute to the imbalance quite frankly.

The only way you can have it all is by delegating all the running of the home to other people - which I don't ever want to do... So you do it yourself, and it takes time and energy and effort. And if you give it the time, it's profoundly enjoyable.

My appearance has changed a lot over the years, but it has far more to do with how I feel about being a woman.

I don't mean being famous is a perk, because one knows that it's not necessarily a perk, but there are certain perks to being well-known and respected in one's field. Public perks. Like, I don't know, general friendliness and willingness to please, just to point out two.

This morning, I went to wipe my hands on a tea towel, and while I was using it, it seemed like it felt a bit light. I unfolded it and realized my daughter had cut little bits out of it to make frocks for her dolls!

I've a problem with the word charity because I think that NGOs, as I prefer calling them, really do take the work of moral and social responsibilities that ought to be taken on by governments.

You can't imagine what satisfaction can be gotten from throwing a pie into someone's face.

It's about time a 55-year-old British woman is the heroine of an action movie. I may have to write it.

It's such a cold night and it's the only time I've actively been grateful for menopause. I've been entirely comfortable.

We've got people looking at our seamy side and our sad side a lot of the time because that's easier. It's much more difficult to make a film about happiness with lots of jokes in it.

We belabour, I think, under a very heavy crust of consumerism really.

I think that my work is my attempt, I suppose, is to try and become a piece of connective tissue. I'm trying to communicate with people here and in America - in rich countries - about what I see on the ground in badly affected areas.

I don't think people understand that being poor means you have to work from dawn until dusk just to survive through the day. I think there's some notion that poor people lie about all day not doing anything.