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66 Incredible Nora Ephron Quotes Of All Time

Famous As: Screenwriter, Producer, Director
Born On: May 19, 1941
Died On: June 26, 2012
Born In: New York City, New York, United States
Died At Age: 71
Nora Ephron was a notable American screenwriter, producer, director, journalist, playwright, essayist and a blogger renowned for her romantic comedy. She bagged BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay for 'When Harry Met Sally' and was also nominated thrice for the Academy Award for Best Writing. Nora also made contributions as a co-author with the Drama Desk Award–winning theatrical production 'Love, Loss, and What I Wore'. 'Julie & Julia' was her last film. In 2013, she was glorified with a posthumous Tony Award nomination for Best Play for her play ‘Lucky Guy’.She fell-prey to pneumonia derived from acute myeloid leukemia which brought an end to an era of talent. Her spectecular thoughts, sayings and quotes are reflected in her writings, essays. Her legacy continues to motivate all. We bring to you a collection of sayings, quotations and thoughts by Nora Ephron on pregnancy, aging, romance, heartburn and empowerment.
Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.

Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.

Nora Ephron
What are you going to do? Everything, is my guess. It will be a little messy, but embrace the mess. It will be complicated, but rejoice in the complications.

What are you going to do? Everything, is my guess. It will be a little messy, but embrace the mess. It will be complicated, but rejoice in the complications.

Nora Ephron
Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.

Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.

Nora Ephron
When I buy a new book, I always read the last page first, that way in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends. That, my friend, is a dark side.

When I buy a new book, I always read the last page first, that way in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends. That, my friend, is a dark side.

Nora Ephron
Insane people are always sure that they are fine. It is only the sane people who are willing to admit that they are crazy.

Insane people are always sure that they are fine. It is only the sane people who are willing to admit that they are crazy.

Nora Ephron
The desire to get married is a basic and primal instinct in women. It's followed by another basic and primal instinct: the desire to be single again.

The desire to get married is a basic and primal instinct in women. It's followed by another basic and primal instinct: the desire to be single again.

Nora Ephron
And then the dreams break into a million tiny pieces. The dream dies. Which leaves you with a choice: you can settle for reality, or you can go off, like a fool, and dream another dream.

And then the dreams break into a million tiny pieces. The dream dies. Which leaves you with a choice: you can settle for reality, or you can go off, like a fool, and dream another dream.

Nora Ephron
When your children are teenagers, it's important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.

When your children are teenagers, it's important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.

Nora Ephron
I have made a lot of mistakes falling in love, and regretted
most of them, but never the potatoes that went with them.

I have made a lot of mistakes falling in love, and regretted most of them, but never the potatoes that went with them.

Nora Ephron
I don't think any day is worth living without thinking about what you're going to eat next at all times.

I don't think any day is worth living without thinking about what you're going to eat next at all times.

Nora Ephron
I look out the window and I see the lights and the skyline and the people on the street rushing around looking for action, love, and the world's greatest chocolate chip cookie, and my heart does a little dance.

I look out the window and I see the lights and the skyline and the people on the street rushing around looking for action, love, and the world's greatest chocolate chip cookie, and my heart does a little dance.

Nora Ephron
So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around?

So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around?

Nora Ephron
Oh, how I regret not having worn a bikini for the entire year I was twenty-six. If anyone young is reading this, go, right this minute, put on a bikini, and don't take it off until you're thirty-four.

Oh, how I regret not having worn a bikini for the entire year I was twenty-six. If anyone young is reading this, go, right this minute, put on a bikini, and don't take it off until you're thirty-four.

Nora Ephron
My mother wanted us to understand that the tragedies of your life one day have to potential to be the comic stories the next.

My mother wanted us to understand that the tragedies of your life one day have to potential to be the comic stories the next.

Nora Ephron
[W]hen you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.

[W]hen you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.

Nora Ephron
Summer bachelors like summer breezes, are never as cool as they pretend to be.

Summer bachelors like summer breezes, are never as cool as they pretend to be.

Nora Ephron
In my sex fantasy, nobody ever loves me for my mind.

In my sex fantasy, nobody ever loves me for my mind.

Nora Ephron
Reading makes me feel I've accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. ... Reading is bliss.

Reading makes me feel I've accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. ... Reading is bliss.

Nora Ephron
I married him against all evidence. I married him believing that marriage doesn't work, that love dies, that passion fades, and in so doing I became the kind of romantic only a cynic is truly capable of being.

I married him against all evidence. I married him believing that marriage doesn't work, that love dies, that passion fades, and in so doing I became the kind of romantic only a cynic is truly capable of being.

Nora Ephron
…the amount of maintenance involving hair is genuinely overwhelming. Sometimes I think that not having to worry about your hair anymore is the secret upside of death.

…the amount of maintenance involving hair is genuinely overwhelming. Sometimes I think that not having to worry about your hair anymore is the secret upside of death.

Nora Ephron
I have no desire to be dominated. Honestly I don't. And yet I find myself becoming angry when I'm not.

I have no desire to be dominated. Honestly I don't. And yet I find myself becoming angry when I'm not.

Nora Ephron
I always read the last page of a book first so that if I die before I finish I'll know how it turned out.

I always read the last page of a book first so that if I die before I finish I'll know how it turned out.

Nora Ephron
It's much easier to get over someone if you can delude yourself into thinking you never really cared that much.

It's much easier to get over someone if you can delude yourself into thinking you never really cared that much.

Nora Ephron
You always think that a bolt of lightning is going to strike and your parents will magically change into the people you wish they were, or back into the people they used to be.

You always think that a bolt of lightning is going to strike and your parents will magically change into the people you wish they were, or back into the people they used to be.

Nora Ephron
I look as young as a person can look given how old I am.

I look as young as a person can look given how old I am.

Nora Ephron
The hardest thing about writing is writing.

The hardest thing about writing is writing.

Nora Ephron
Above all, be the heroine of your own life, not the victim.

Above all, be the heroine of your own life, not the victim.

Nora Ephron
As Harry puts it, men and women can never be friends because 'the sex part always gets in the way.

As Harry puts it, men and women can never be friends because 'the sex part always gets in the way.

Nora Ephron
If pregnancy were a book they would cut the last two chapters.

If pregnancy were a book they would cut the last two chapters.

Nora Ephron
When you slip on a banana peel, people laugh at you. But when you tell people you slipped on a banana peel, it's your laugh.

When you slip on a banana peel, people laugh at you. But when you tell people you slipped on a banana peel, it's your laugh.

Nora Ephron
Never marry a man you wouldn’t want to be divorced from.

Never marry a man you wouldn’t want to be divorced from.

Nora Ephron
I'll have what she's having

I'll have what she's having

Nora Ephron
When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.

When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.

Nora Ephron
SALLY    Harry, I can’t do this anymore. I am not your consolation prize. Goodbye.

SALLY    Harry, I can’t do this anymore. I am not your consolation prize. Goodbye.

Nora Ephron
The image of the journalist as wallflower at the orgy has been replaced by the journalist as the life of the party.

The image of the journalist as wallflower at the orgy has been replaced by the journalist as the life of the party.

Nora Ephron
It was personal to me.

It was personal to me." ~Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) in You've Got Mail

Nora Ephron
What happens to me when I'm provoked is that I get tongue-tied and my mind goes blank. Then I spend all night tossing and turning trying to figure out what I should have said

What happens to me when I'm provoked is that I get tongue-tied and my mind goes blank. Then I spend all night tossing and turning trying to figure out what I should have said

Nora Ephron
He was, in his way, as close to a Zen master as I've ever had, and all of us who fell under his influence began with his style and eventually ended up with our own.

He was, in his way, as close to a Zen master as I've ever had, and all of us who fell under his influence began with his style and eventually ended up with our own.

Nora Ephron
I can make a case that I regret nothing. After all, most of my mistakes turned out to be things I survived, or turned into funny stories, or, on occasion, even made money from.

I can make a case that I regret nothing. After all, most of my mistakes turned out to be things I survived, or turned into funny stories, or, on occasion, even made money from.

Nora Ephron
Love is homesickness.

Love is homesickness.

Nora Ephron
You can never have too much butter.

You can never have too much butter.

Nora Ephron
You'd be amazed how little choice you have about loony bins.

You'd be amazed how little choice you have about loony bins.

Nora Ephron
Anything you think is wrong with your body at the age of thirty-five you will be nostalgic for at the age of forty-five.

Anything you think is wrong with your body at the age of thirty-five you will be nostalgic for at the age of forty-five.

Nora Ephron
Reading is grist. Reading is bliss.

Reading is grist. Reading is bliss.

Nora Ephron
Well, at least this time I get to be a person in the story. The last time you told one of your Russian parables I was a bag of chickens.

Well, at least this time I get to be a person in the story. The last time you told one of your Russian parables I was a bag of chickens.

Nora Ephron
Checked out the mirror to see if I looked older, or sadder, or wiser. I didn’t; I just looked tired.

Checked out the mirror to see if I looked older, or sadder, or wiser. I didn’t; I just looked tired.

Nora Ephron
You fall in love with someone, and part of what you love about him are the differences between you; and then you get married and the differences start to drive you crazy.

You fall in love with someone, and part of what you love about him are the differences between you; and then you get married and the differences start to drive you crazy.

Nora Ephron
Above all, be the heroine of your life.

Above all, be the heroine of your life.

Nora Ephron
I must try this again, I thought; I must try again someday to sit still and not say a word. Maybe when I'm dead.

I must try this again, I thought; I must try again someday to sit still and not say a word. Maybe when I'm dead.

Nora Ephron
Sometimes I think that not having to worry a bout your hair anymore is the secret upside of death.

Sometimes I think that not having to worry a bout your hair anymore is the secret upside of death.

Nora Ephron
He loved Thelma, Jonathan said, he had never loved anyone but Thelma, he had loved Thelma for nineteen years and would always love her even though Thelma didn't give a rat's ass about him and never had.

He loved Thelma, Jonathan said, he had never loved anyone but Thelma, he had loved Thelma for nineteen years and would always love her even though Thelma didn't give a rat's ass about him and never had.

Nora Ephron
I try to write parts for women that are as complicated and interesting as women actually are.

I try to write parts for women that are as complicated and interesting as women actually are." --Nora Ephron

Nora Ephron
Of course, everyone has something wrong with him, that’s for sure, but this guy probably had something really wrong. Perhaps

Of course, everyone has something wrong with him, that’s for sure, but this guy probably had something really wrong. Perhaps

Nora Ephron
Black makes your life so much simpler. Everything matches black, especially black.

Black makes your life so much simpler. Everything matches black, especially black.

Nora Ephron
Writers are cannibals. They really are. They are predators, and if you are friends with them, and if you say anything funny at dinner, or if anything good happens to you, you are in big trouble.

Writers are cannibals. They really are. They are predators, and if you are friends with them, and if you say anything funny at dinner, or if anything good happens to you, you are in big trouble.

Nora Ephron
Men … I hate them. I’ve always hated them. You wonder why I always hang around with women and never with men, it’s because men do things like this.

Men … I hate them. I’ve always hated them. You wonder why I always hang around with women and never with men, it’s because men do things like this.

Nora Ephron
Death doesn't really feel eventual or inevitable. It still feels... avoidable somehow. But it's not. We know in one part of our brains that we are all going to die, but on some level we don't quite believe it.

Death doesn't really feel eventual or inevitable. It still feels... avoidable somehow. But it's not. We know in one part of our brains that we are all going to die, but on some level we don't quite believe it.

Nora Ephron
People always say that once it goes away you forget the pain. It's a cliche of childbirth. You forget the pain. I don;t happen to agree. I remember the pain. What you really forget is love.

People always say that once it goes away you forget the pain. It's a cliche of childbirth. You forget the pain. I don;t happen to agree. I remember the pain. What you really forget is love.

Nora Ephron
We know in one part of our brains that we are all going to die, but on some level we don’t quite believe it.

We know in one part of our brains that we are all going to die, but on some level we don’t quite believe it.

Nora Ephron
I think I was so entranced with being a couple that I didn’t even notice that the person I thought I was a couple with thought he was a couple with someone else.

I think I was so entranced with being a couple that I didn’t even notice that the person I thought I was a couple with thought he was a couple with someone else.

Nora Ephron
My parents had drinks and there were crudités for us- although they were not called crudités at the time, they were called carrots and celery.

My parents had drinks and there were crudités for us- although they were not called crudités at the time, they were called carrots and celery.

Nora Ephron
But the main problem with our marriages was not that our husbands wouldn’t share the housework but that we were unbelievably irritable young women and our husbands irritated us unbelievably. - The D Word

But the main problem with our marriages was not that our husbands wouldn’t share the housework but that we were unbelievably irritable young women and our husbands irritated us unbelievably. - The D Word

Nora Ephron
Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life - well, valuable, but small - and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave?

Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life - well, valuable, but small - and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave?

Nora Ephron
I’ve always believed that the concept of the Jewish princess was invented by a Jewish prince who couldn’t get his wife to fetch him the butter. I was not raised as

I’ve always believed that the concept of the Jewish princess was invented by a Jewish prince who couldn’t get his wife to fetch him the butter. I was not raised as

Nora Ephron
The truth is, most of the genuinely tragic episodes of lost food are things that are somewhat outside the reach of the home cook, even a home cook like me who has been known to overreach from time to time.

The truth is, most of the genuinely tragic episodes of lost food are things that are somewhat outside the reach of the home cook, even a home cook like me who has been known to overreach from time to time.

Nora Ephron
Everything is copy.

Everything is copy.

Nora Ephron