Maggie Smith, Acting Icon, Dies At 89: Here Are 20 Quotes She Left Behind

Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (Maggie Smith) has passed away at 89 years old. Maggie Smith was an acclaimed British actress. She was renowned and adored for her legendary wit that she portrayed in various roles throughout her career. There will never be another Professor McGonagall. She embodied that particular role like no one else ever could. Smith’s career lasted for over seven fruitful and deeply rewarding decades. She would go on to receive multiple awards that include two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, four Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award. Smith is one of a select few performers who was able to earn the Triple Crown of Acting as well.

1. On not tolerating fools

“It’s true I don’t tolerate fools but then they don’t tolerate me, so I am spiky. Maybe that’s why I’m quite good at playing spiky elderly ladies.”

2. On the aging process

“People say it gets better but it doesn’t. It just gets different, that’s all.”

3. On finding the funny side in things

“I tend to head for what’s amusing because a lot of things aren’t happy. But usually you can find a funny side to practically anything.”

4. On old people

“Old people are scary. And I have to face it. I am old and I am scary.”

5. On having direction

“If you’re lucky, I think you know what you want to do with your life. I think that’s a greater gift that any of the gifts you might have when you do know, if you know what I mean. It must be awful to not know what to do.”

6. On working on Harry Potter

“There’s this wonderful first assistant and he’ll be saying, Now Harry goes down among the dragons. You have to hold yourself together. Because if you lose it for a second then you’re sunk.”

7. On loving comedy

“I do love comedy, and when it’s a comedy moment and you can make people laugh, of course it is wonderful.”

8. On her origins of acting

“When I started acting almost 50 years ago, it wasn’t about fame. It was about acting.”

9. On being past your prime

“I believe that I am past my prime. I had reckoned on my prime lasting till I was at least fifty.”

10. On belief

“I know there is something out there and like most people, I tend to believe in it more when things go bad.”

11. On solitude

“I have many good friends, but I tend to keep to myself anyway. It’s odd, doing things and having no one to share them with.”

12. On playing old parts

“I’ve been playing old parts forever. I play 93 quite often. When you’ve done it more than once, you take the hint. I think it’s a great burden if you’re one of those fantastic stars who’ve always been beautiful; then I think it’s hard.”

13. On the nature of theatre

“I like the ephemeral thing about theatre, every performance is like a ghost – it’s there and then it’s gone.”

14. On the connection between actor and audience

“There is a kind of invisible thread between the actor and the audience, and when it’s there it’s stunning, and there is nothing to match that.”

15. On being a serious actress

“I wanted to be a serious actress, but of course that didn’t really happen.”

16. On chemotherapy

“The chemotherapy was very peculiar, something that makes you feel much worse than the cancer itself, a very nasty thing. I used to go to treatment on my own, and nearly everybody else was with somebody. I wouldn’t have liked that. Why would you want to make anybody sit in those places?”

17. On being outside

“I like being outside and working with the elements. The elemental aspects of it. The physicality of it.”

18. On visualizing performances

“The performances you have in your head are always much better than the performances on stage.”

19. On dining in people’s homes

“People think of you differently if you’ve been in their homes. They think they own you because they watched you while they were eating dinner, or they can turn you up or down, or even freeze you.”

20. On the press asking questions

“The thing is, often press people ask questions that are so personal that even your nearest and dearest wouldn’t ask them.”