"I am so superstitious that if I had arrived when there was no sunshine I should have been wretched and most anxious until after my first performance. It is a perfect torture to be superstitious to this degree, and, unfortunately for me, I am ten times more so now than I was in those days, for besides the superstitions of my own country, I have, thanks to my travels, added to my stock all the superstitions of other countries. I know them all now, and in any critical moment of my life, they all rise up in armed legions for or against me. I cannot walk a single step or make any movement or gesture, sit down, go out, look at the sky or ground, without feeling some reason for hope or despair, until at last, exasperated by the trammels put upon my actions by my thought, I defy all superstitions and just act as I want to act."
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Sarah Bernhardt
1844 – 1923
Sarah Bernhardt (23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923), born Marie Henriette Bernardt, was a French stage actress. Bernhardt is regarded as one the finest actresses of the 19th century, and was the first actor to become a worldwide celebrity. Also known as "The Divine Sarah".
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