Celia St. James

"I've been a lot of things in my life. Not all of them have been good."

"People love a good secret. They love the holding of it, the knowing of something no one else knows."

"I wanted to be a star. I wanted to shine so bright that no one could look away."

"You can't love someone and also betray them. One cancels out the other."

"I've learned that the version of yourself you present to the world is often more powerful than the truth."

"The camera loves some people. And some people love the camera back."

"I was willing to do whatever it took to survive."

"Beauty is a weapon. And I was going to use it."

"Happiness is a choice you make every single day."

"I didn't want to be loved. I wanted to be wanted."

"The studio system owned us. Our lives, our images, our futures."

"I've had seven husbands and loved exactly none of them."

"You learn who people really are when they think no one is watching."

"I chose to be alone rather than be with someone who didn't see me."

"The most dangerous thing in the world is a woman who knows her own worth."

"I've spent my whole life running from the truth. And it never helped."

"Love is a luxury I could never afford."

"I learned that survival sometimes means becoming someone you don't recognize."

"The only person I've ever truly loved is myself, and I regret that."

"Secrets have a way of poisoning everything they touch."

"I would rather burn brightly for a short time than fade away slowly."

"The moment I realized no one was going to save me, I saved myself."

"I've always been good at reading people. It's how I survived."

"Money doesn't buy happiness, but it buys freedom, and freedom is close enough."

"I was a muse to so many men. But I never let anyone be my master."

"The camera sees what you want it to see. Everything else is illusion."

"I learned to smile through pain early on. It became my greatest skill."

"Youth is a superpower. And I used it like a weapon."

"I've been many women in my lifetime. None of them were entirely real."

"The truth will destroy you if you let it. So sometimes you don't."