Archive

Quotes

The world is made of the very stuff of the body.

—Maurice Merleau-Ponty, 1961

If I see something sagging, dragging, or bagging, I’m going to go have the stuff tucked or plucked.

—Dolly Parton, 2003

Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.

—Kate Moss, 2009

Very shy people don’t even want to take up the space that their body actually takes up.

—Andy Warhol, 1975

As the saying goes, an old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb.

—Chinua Achebe, 1958

One’s body, hair, and skin are a gift from one’s parents—do not dare to allow them to be harmed.

—Classic of Filial Piety, c. 200 BC

Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.

—Oscar Wilde, 1890

If I had the use of my body I would throw it out of the window.

—Samuel Beckett, 1951

Flesh was the reason why oil painting was invented.

—Willem de Kooning, 1949

I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king.

—Elizabeth I, 1588

Carnal embrace is the practice of throwing one’s arms around a side of beef.

—Tom Stoppard, 1993

The features of our face are hardly more than gestures which force of habit has made permanent.

—Marcel Proust, 1919

To lose confidence in one’s body is to lose confidence in oneself.

—Simone de Beauvoir, 1949