Vanessa Redgrave Quotes

Professions:ActivistActressExplorer

Born: January 30, 1937

Vanessa Redgrave, a titan of stage and screen, embodies the fearless soul of artistic expression. Her philosophy champions creativity as a radical, transformative act of truth, not mere performance. With a career spanning over six decades, she has redefined acting as an unflinching exploration of the human condition. Her quotes resonate deeply because they emerge from a life lived with unwavering integrity—where art is a moral calling, a vehicle for empathy, and a rebellion against complacency. Redgrave’s legacy is a masterclass in vulnerability and power, inspiring creators to embrace their craft as a sacred, courageous pursuit.

Vanessa Redgrave Quotes (25)

"I've still got to do something to help, however tiny it is. I always think of the old Hebrew saying, which is translated roughly into, 'He who saves one life saves the world,' because it's pretty ghastly to think of all the people we're not saving."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"Ask the right questions if you're to find the right answers."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"Theater and poetry were what helped people stay alive and want to go on living."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Motivation

"We are child-bearers primarily, and we are the weaker sex, and once we've given birth to our children, our life is by necessity bound to them. I wouldn't advocate it any other way."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"Integrity is so perishable in the summer months of success."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Motivation

"I liked film-making, but the most difficult thing was the editing. I found it tormentingly difficult."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"A theater is being given over to market forces, which means that a whole generation that should be able to do theater as well as see it is being completely deprived."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"Shakespeare lets us see real people undergoing real processes, with real feelings."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"The society Shakespeare knew was heading for tremendous change, and he seems to have recognized that and written about it in a coded way. I understand those codes, I think."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"Politics is about divisions. Wherever you come in on the subject, there are divisions."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"I've identified all my life with refugees."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"I think everybody, including myself, are in danger of losing our humanity."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"Just being alive, staying human, I think that's infinitely precious."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"I don't think my life has been badly lived - but I don't think of it that way. And nor should I."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"My uncles and my father were all in the Royal Navy. One of my uncles, as a matter of fact, was drowned in the Sea of Singapore, having been fighting for the Royal Navy behind enemy lines, Japanese lines, in the hinterland of Singapore."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"A film can open hearts and minds that have been closed, for whatever reasons."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Love

"People talk about preaching to the converted, which is total codswallop rubbish. There is no such thing as being converted forever - absolutely no such thing."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"You can get numbed. People can get hardened. It's not their fault; they just get hardened. News media get hardened. Proprietors get even harder."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"I didn't plan that there'd be this awful situation in which our European governments, just to start the story off, breaking the Geneva conventions on the protection on the human rights of refugees."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Motivation

"I've been working for refugees for years and years and years."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"I don't want to spend my last few whatever it is, months or years on this earth, giving speeches."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Creativity

"I acted with Albie at Stratford-on-Avon in the 1959 season. We in the acting company tended to hang out at the pub known as the Dirty Duck."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"The notion of 'building a career' had never been heard or dreamed of when I was young."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"In my early days, I auditioned a lot. Mostly, I didn't get anywhere."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Wisdom

"I got my first film break because the director Karel Reisz saw me at a small theater party."

Vanessa Redgrave
Topic: Creativity
Explore Minds

Related Authors

Explore dynamic profiles and quotes from other famous thinkers.

Explore Categories

Related Topics

Discover standard-setting wisdom curated by core themes.