Yves Montand Quotes

1. Every day I reinvent myself. One must take risks - or die.  







2. (on his brutal poverty) Often all we had for lunch was one egg for all three kids.

3. (on Simone Signoret) To destroy herself like that was a terrible thing. I told her it's not fair for her and it's not fair for me. What can I say? For the last eight years of her life we had no sex. But we stayed together because between us there was a very great love, a very great tenderness. Did you know that she died blind?

4. I think a man can have two, maybe three affairs, while he is married. But three is the absolute maximum. After that, you're cheating.

5. (on Marilyn Monroe) Marilyn is the most tortured woman on earth…She lives in a hell, surrounded by doctors, nurses, dressers, between a pot of cream and a mirror. One blackhead and she faints…She creates a vacuum around herself. No other human can approach without being seized by a sort of illness.


6. (on Marilyn Monroe) She's got so she'll do whatever I ask her to do on the set. Everyone is amazed at her cooperation, and she's constantly looking to me for approval.

7. Pacifists are like sheep who believe that wolves are vegetarians.

8. People say I want to be president of France, the French Reagan. Not true! The press has said this, not I. I am not sure my shoulders can carry that burden. All I want is to tell my countrymen that truth is not a one-way street. Some socialist ideas are good, some capitalist ideas are good. But no ideas are good that violate the rights of the individual. You want to criticize America? Bien. America is not perfect. But be careful when you criticize America's political institutions. They are the safeguard of freedom on this planet. In our world, without America there would be no France!

9. (on Marilyn Monroe) She was very sad. I pay a lot after that, but mostly it was de bonne guerre - in good sport. It's okay. I bend my back. Then one day I say: "Enough! Do you want me to write down everything that happened?" And it was over. Finito.

10. (on Edith Piaf) She was formidable. She only knew how to give - everything.

11. (on breaking his affair with Marilyn Monroe, because he had no intention of leaving his wife Simone Signoret) Marilyn has been so kind to me, but she is a simple girl without any guile. Perhaps I was too tender and thought that maybe she was as sophisticated as some of the other ladies I have known…Had Marilyn been more sophisticated, none of this ever would have happened…Perhaps she had a schoolgirl crush. If she did, I'm sorry. But, nothing will break up my marriage.

12. Sunday is different than all the other days. Even the sun is different.

13. (on Gerard Depardieu) He's the actor of the new generation. I don't mean one of - he is THE one.

14. (on Carole Amiel) I met Carole when she was 13. I knew her family. When she was 22, I arranged a world tour. Simone could not go. I needed someone to trim my hair. To bring food at 4:30, not at 6 p.m. So I took Carole along. And that is how we came together. Simone knew about us, but she didn't want to know, vous comprenez? She didn't like it, but she understood. You cannot leave a man like me for eight years without - certain things. Carole and I live together now. She is a strong person. Very discreet, very clear. Her modesty is deeply touching to me. I do all I can to make the life we share agreeable for her. I'm not sure I always succeed. When one has loved a woman for almost 40 years, especially someone like Simone, one thinks of her often. Speaks of her often. I'm afraid it isn't always easy for Carole to listen, but she listens, and I'm grateful. You see, I'm not building a new life. I'm just continuing my life. And Simone is still very much a part of it. Oh, the courage of that woman! What she suffered in the last months! I need all Simone's strength now to keep me swimming, swimming to the end. "Come on, Montand!" she is telling me. "Come on! Swim!"


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