Kate Winslet quotes:

Plastic surgery and breast implants are fine for people who want that, if it makes them feel better about who they are. But, it makes these people, actors especially, fantasy figures for a fantasy world. Acting is about being real being honest.

The things that make me happiest in the whole world are going on the occasional picnic, either with my children or with my partner; big family gatherings; and being able to go to the grocery store - if I can get those things in, I'm doing good.

Harry Potter' really harnessed the imagination of so many young-adult minds, and it's the same with the 'Divergent' series.

By nature, I'm a very positive person, and because I'm happy in myself, and in my life, and I've got a great husband, and beautiful children, and I have a job that I love that calls for a certain amount of emotional expression, I get to realise a lot of my dreams and aspirations.

There were nineteen years between my grandparents, and I was in a relationship for five years from the age of fifteen to twenty with a man who was thirteen years older than me who remains one of the loves of my life, and he passed away when I was twenty years old.

We're the kind of family that gets together for Sunday lunch. I see my younger sister all the time.

I love the routine. I love getting up in the morning and getting breakfast and packing lunches and doing the school run. Those things are really important to me. Because I think that those small but key moments are crucial for a kid.

I'm not the kind of person who's going to look at the top of a mountain and go, 'Oh, look at that! That's lovely. That's lovely, that top of that mountain.' I'm the kind of person who's going to go, 'Oh, my God! That's so lovely! Let's go climb up it!'

The good and bad things are what form us as people... change makes us grow.

What I am very, very moved and struck by is that so many people in the world are often living a life that they hadn't planned for themselves. And they wake up one day and say, 'Hang on. Who am I? Is this really me? Is this what I really wanted?' And also, 'Can I change it? Have I got the courage to change it?'

My life has taken me down several different paths I never expected it to take me down. Not in a million years.

I have always wanted my children's dads to be involved in their lives. Not just the day-to-day aspect, but the emotional shifts that they go through, when little things pop up - they need to be included, absolutely, and for the children to feel that they are.

It's really weird 'cause when you're 21 you think, 'Oh God, when I'm 36, oh God, that's nearly 40, and I'll look really old and wrinkly by then.' And actually, I quite like the way I look.

I was very, very thrown by the fact that I had to make some big changes in my life in order to be myself, but under this kind of movie-star banner.

Ah... romance to me is spontaneity. It's not diamond earrings; it's a bunch of daffodils that's freshly picked from the field.

Oh, I had, 'No one will ever fancy me!' I had that well into my teens. Even now I do not consider myself to be some kind of great, sexy beauty. I don't mind the way I'm ageing. No reason to panic just yet. I think I look my age, and that's fine.

I know the true meaning of getting by by the skin of my teeth; I do. It doesn't matter whether you've got money or you haven't, whether you're famous or not. This is the case for all women, actually; you have to carry on. You always have to carry on. And you can, because you have to.

Thank God I'm in touch with my emotions enough to be able to pick up my children, kiss them all over and say 'I love you' over and over.

Ah, my dad's whistle. On holidays when I was a kid, we would all be off in the rock pools along the beach. When it came time to go, we'd hear the whistle and we'd all come running. Like dogs!

I love to cook. I could never give that up.

I don't beat myself up any more about going to work. It doesn't mean I'm being a bad mother just because I want to go and do my job sometimes.

The happiness I feel in having a family has brought me a real beauty.

So I won an Oscar. It's amazing. I've got that for the rest of my life for a performance I am proud of. It nearly killed me. I am really proud of the film. That's it, moving on.

I don't know... part of, I suppose, my way out of everything, has been really taking care of myself. I think that comes from an awareness that my children really need me, and they need me to be the healthiest version of myself that I can possibly be.

I won't allow magazines in the house. When I was younger, I wanted to have my hair cut like so-and-so in the class above me at school, not somebody in a magazine. You see young girls trying to dress like so-and-so because they've seen lots of pictures of them.

I need to be looked after. I'm not talking about diamond rings and nice restaurants and fancy stuff - in fact, that makes me uncomfortable. I didn't grow up with it, and it's not me, you know. But I need someone to say to me, 'Shall I run you a bath?' or 'Let's go to the pub, just us.'

My husband is not a jealous person in any way.

My body will never go back to what it was, and I wouldn't expect it to after three babies.

The early stage of pregnancy for me is quite hard to hide.

Single mums do come in for a hard time. Society is incredibly judgmental. I know this.

I love Lancome's L'Absolu Rouge lipstick, as it lasts. Unless you spend the whole night snogging, you won't need to reapply it.

For my own children, I do want for them to look back and remember that it was me in the kitchen, that I was doing the packed lunches, that we were there on the school run, that we did take a bus. I want them to remember those things, because those are the things that I remember from my own childhood and that have been incredibly important to me.

You learn from things that you experience in life. I'd never want to say that I regret anything or that anything was a mistake. Honestly, that isn't how I have chosen to live my life.

It's often assumed that British actors read Shakespeare and sonnets as we're going to bed at night and we're all very familiar with it.

Winning the Oscar was like winning all the prizes in one single night that I never won as a kid.

Revolutionary Road' is a fascinating study of the human condition of a fragmenting marriage and the torment that these two people put themselves through in their efforts to try and find happiness and try and stay together, actually.

Loving someone is setting them free, letting them go.

My children can't see many of the films that I've been in because I'm always either dying or taking my clothes off.

There's nothing bloody wrong with wanting it at all.

Mildred Pierce was capable of great acts of love as a mother.

The Reader' is about a young man's experience of falling in love with somebody who, it turns out, made some choices that were unavoidable in her life that resulted in horrific crimes against humanity.

Playing Juliet in 'Heavenly Creatures' changed my life, and the role of Clementine in' Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' opened many new doors creatively.

I really believe in, 'Move on, live and let live, forgive and forget.'

The growing-up-fast part weirdly happened between the ages of 15 and 22.

I lend my daughter beauty products, but only as a treat. If she's going to a party, I'll let her borrow a mascara or moisturizer.

I want to keep my health and my sanity and be well and feel happy. Plus, I want to have fun.

Just because society, and government, and whatever was different 100 years ago, doesn't mean that people didn't have sex, pick their nose, or swear.

I've decided I am going to start loving my backside because I don't know anyone who does that. And for my daughter, I want to be able to say to her, 'I love this.'

I hope I'm always learning something.

Life is short, and it is here to be lived.

One thing I love about being back is English rain. Looking out of the window now, it's raining, and the sky is dark; I love it. To me, those are reassuringly English things. I love it when it rains.

Growing up, I had a very happy childhood, with two parents who are still very much together.

I get up extremely early in the morning.

I do think it's important for young women to know that magazine covers are retouched. People don't really look like that.

Jane Campion is a tough director.

I'm not a gardener. I wish I was.

You know why I fear people's judgment? Because I know they're judging. I know they are.

There's a lot of judgement that can come from outside sometimes, and there's media scrutiny that is placed on a lot of women in the public eye, and I just couldn't care less. I really couldn't care less.

I like the diversity that my children are exposed to every day.

Real luxury is having the time to read endless stories in bed with my children. And I get that all the time. I'm so blessed.

The countryside, particularly, is very good for my head.

Let me tell you, 'The Reader' was not glamorous for me in terms of the body-hair maintenance.

Love to me, God, this is so difficult... To me, love is when you meet that person and you think, 'This is it, this is who I'm supposed to be with.'

I resent that there is an image of perfection that is getting thinner and thinner. I've got a lovely husband and children, and I didn't lose weight to find those things.

I kept my head; I mean, I've never been one of those people who ended up in the gutter with sick in my hair.

Mum and Dad were very much friends and up for life. There was no anxiety for anything when I was growing up; they just taught me to be me.

I'm only 5-foot-6, but people think I'm sort of a great big Viking woman. I'm not - I'm completely normal and average.

I'd rather do theatre and British films than move to L.A. in hopes of getting small roles in American films.

The experience of making a movie is far removed from watching the end result. It's exciting, but it still makes me squirm.

I think any form of self-expression is half confidence, half sheer hard work and, maybe, a bit of talent thrown in.

I do have impossibly high standards.

I was the kid who never won the races. I never jumped the highest. I wasn't on the list of the high-achieving.

My husband and I met in a house fire, basically.

I never had a desire to be famous... I was fat. I didn't know any fat famous actresses... You know, once a fat kid, always a fat kid. Because you always think that you just look a little bit wrong or a little bit different from everyone else. And I still sort of have that.

In order to maintain that fire for acting and capture its essence, you can't let yourself be concerned with what people have to say about you. You just can't.

I was a wayward child, very passionate and very determined. If I made up my mind to do something, there was no stopping me.

I do like being busy. I'm not the kind of person who just sits around and goes to a spa when I'm not working.

I don't really do simple. I'm not really interested in simple at the end of the day, because nothing's ever simple, and nothing's ever perfect. People certainly aren't - I would hope, anyway, because that would be boring, wouldn't it?

I finally moved out of my parent's house. It was only fair to let my sister have her own room.

Commitment to one other person in life is glorious.

It doesn't matter how old you are or what you do with your life, you will never stop needing your mum. And I will never stop needing mine, so thanks, Mum.

I do endless chopping and preparing things. I really find that relaxing. I do a lot of thinking as I am chopping and cooking.

I've never understood the notion that actors and actresses should look great on-screen just because they're on-screen. That doesn't make sense to me.

Having just had a baby, I'm not going to be thinking about my arse.

I will tell you that when I was heavy, people would say to me - and it was such a backhanded compliment - they would say, 'You've got such a beautiful face,' in the way of, like, 'Oh, isn't it a shame that from the neck down you're questionable.'

If being crazy means living life as if it matters, then I don't mind being completely insane.

Acting is about being real, being honest.

I find it very difficult to wear nice, pretty shoes. I'm much more comfortable in boots or Birkenstocks or loafers.

I accept my body. I accept how I am and make the best of what I am given.

I don't go to the gym because I don't have time but I do Pilates workout DVDs for 20 minutes or more every day at home

There's more to life than cheek bones.

I look like people that walk down the street. I don't have perfect boobs, I don't have zero cellulite - of course I don't - and I'm curvy. If that is something that makes women feel empowered in any way, that's great.

Everyone can commit to 20 minutes, especially if there's a glass of Chardonnay afterwards.

I'd much rather be known as some curvy Kate than as some skinny stick.

It's true that you need much time to get rid of the fat girl you once were, but you know I am sincerely grateful for my buttocks.

It's very tempting to have a nanny and live in a gated community and have a chef - I'd love to have a few dinners cooked for me. But I don't want that for my children. When they're older, if people say to them, 'Did you have a chef?' I want them to be shocked by the question.

I think of myself as a mum who finds the time to go to work. I have to check myself for baby sick before I walk out of the house in the morning. I am really a mum I know I am a great mother.

The whole concept of 'grounding' children is utterly stupid - they just go off and rebel and don't like you. When my kids eventually come along, I don't want them to not like me.

Many roads to take some to joy some to heart ache

If you're not still learning and growing as an actor, then you have no backbone and no career

I have a crumble baby belly, boobs are worse for wear after two kids...I'm doing all right. I'm 33. I don't look in the mirror and go, "Oh, I look fantastic!". Of course I don't. Nobody is perfect. I just don't believe in perfection. But I do believe in saying, "This is who I am and look at me not being perfect!". I'm proud of that.

I went up to Meryl Streetp and said 'I love you so much I want to tongue kiss you' And she said 'OK'.

As a child, I never heard one woman say to me, "I love my body". Not my mother, my elder sister, my best friend. No one woman has ever said, "I am so proud of my body." So I make sure to say it to Mia , because a positive physical outlook has to start at an early age.

Experiencing those moments of being alone... is a very, very weird flooring and exposing position to be in when you're just not used to it... But I've never been lonely. And with my kids Mia and Joe that remains the case.

I danced a lot when I was younger, and I've always had decent, shapely legs and thought it's now or never. I mean, when you're pushing 40, are you really going to wander around in a dress that's midthigh length?

The assistant asked, `What do you want on it?' and Leo said, `Oh, Kate will tell you.' And Leo just kind of fell asleep. And I did know exactly what he wanted - this kind of cheese and no tomato and no pickle. I absolutely knew. And I thought, `God, that's really weird that I know this person so well.' It was brilliant.

The retouching is excessive. I do not look like that and more importantly, I don't desire to look like that,

I wouldn't dream of working on something that didn't make my gut rumble and my heart want to explode.

I'd rather do theater and British films than move to LA in hopes of getting small roles in American films

My parents met because my father was an actor friend of one of my mom's brothers, but my mother has never set foot on the stage - she's quite shy. So it's a strange thing because people say, 'Oh, coming from acting parents,' when the idea of acting would literally make my mother just want to throw up.

Sophia Loren is glamorous.

If we could only turn back time

Apart from The Holiday, I haven't really spent a huge amount of time in LA. Not that I avoid it, it's just that I don't often go there unless I'm doing press. The one thing I have discovered about LA with kids is that it's really great for children. They really like the sun and making sand castles.

My grandparents - both of my mother's parents - were actors, and they ran the Reading Repertory Theatre Company, through the town of Reading, where I come from.

I feel like I'm playing more of a role walking down the red carpet than when I'm playing an ordinary woman covered in sweat.

Very thorough in the rehearsal process but more in terms of just understanding the characters, understanding where the actors are at with discovering those characters for themselves, and just setting an overall emotional tone for the piece as opposed to necessarily getting things up on their feet or staging scenes.

When I was heavy, people would say to me - and it was such a backhanded compliment - they would say, 'You've got such a beautiful face,' in the way of, like, 'Oh, isn't it a shame that from the neck down you're questionable.'

But I really can't and I actually don't like switching off because I worry that I might lose my thread, or something. I fall asleep and I hope to God that I'm going to dream about it, because then I don't have to put it down.

I often look at women who wear great jeans and high heels and nice little T-shirts wandering around the city ,and I think, 'I should make more of an effort. I should look like that.' But then I think, 'They can't be happy in those heels.'

I'm always inspired by actresses who are older than me. Because I know that person has lived so much more life than I have. There's a whole other toolbox.