Marlene Dietrich

"One of the things about her that astonished me the most was her knowledge of the technical side of motion pictures. She seemed to know everything. She constantly watched the camera and the lighting, and she would politely superintend, make suggestions to the cameraman and gaffers so subtly and so sexily that no one was offended, and she got precisely what she wanted. (I didn't mind.; what possible difference could it make which side of my face was photographed? Both sides were equally homely.) She was one of the first actresses I ever knew to have her own makeup table and mirror placed in the same lights in which she would have to play—a trick she told me Von Sternberg had taught her. Between takes she was constantly in front of the mirror, adjusting her hair and her makeup, and the instant the director called her, she was ready."

"Quotations: I love them because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognizedly wiser than oneself."

"Sex: In America an obsession. In other parts of the world a fact."

"Forgiveness: Once a woman has forgiven her man, she must not reheat his sins for breakfast."

"Most women set out to try to change a man, and when they have changed him they do not like him."

"Dahlink, the legs aren't so beautiful. I just know what to do with them."

"There’s something about an American soldier you can’t explain. It's a quality... They’re so grateful, so heartbreakingly grateful for anything, even a film actress coming to see them. They say thank you for coming, and they really mean it."

"Jungs! Opfert euch nicht! Der krieg ist doch scheiße, Hitler ist ein idiot! (message in a pro-allied propaganda broadcast) Translation: Boy! Do not sacrifice yourself! The war is but shit, Hitler is an idiot!"

"America took me into her bosom when there was no longer a country worthy of the name, but in my heart I am German – German in my soul."

"The Germans and I no longer speak the same language."

"She is brave, beautiful, loyal, kind and generous. She is never boring and is as lovely looking in a GI shirt, pants and combat boots as she is at night or on the screen. She has an honesty and a comic and tragic sense of life that never let her be truly happy unless she loves. When she loves she can joke about it; but it is gallows humor."

"Marlene Dietrich is a professional – a professional actress, a professional dress designer, a professional cameraman."

"Wie sollte mein Herz zerreißen, als Hamburg bombardiert wurde, wenn es doch schon zerrissen war, als die Bomben auf London fielen."