Marie of Edinburgh, Queen of Romania

"If you ever think I am over-exuberant, too unconventional, too outspoken, remember that life has not blunted me nor made me blasé or indifferent, that all things are still a joy and of interest to me because of that secret source of enchantment that flows within me - the joy of life!"

"I have always had the joy of life, uncrushably, a sort of inner sunshine that cannot be put out."

"It is like a wide embrace gathering all those who have long searched for words of hope… Saddened by the continual strife amongst believers of many confessions and wearied of their intolerance towards each other, I discovered in the Bahá'í teaching the real spirit of Christ so often denied and misunderstood."

"I have met [a proselytizer from a religious group]. I did not like him. He seemed to me to be a snob. He spoke of God as if He were the oldest title in the Almanach de Gotha. And all that business about telling one's sins in public -- He wanted me … me … to get up before my children and confess everything I had ever done! It is spiritual nudism! Ça se ne fait pas."

"Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song, A medley of extemporanea, And love is a thing that can never go wrong And I am Marie of Roumania."