Sophia Loren: The Wit And Wisdom Of A Screen Goddess

As the legendary Italian actress Sophia Loren turns 80, we celebrate her best quotes and most gorgeously stylish snaps of all time. Sophia's total belief in the power of self-confidence is a serious inspiration.

1. 'Sex appeal is fifty per cent what you've got and fifty per cent what people think you've got.' 

2. 'A woman's dress should be like a barbed-wire fence: serving its purpose without obstructing the view.'

3. 'At the dressing table, every woman has a chance to be an artist, and Art, as Aristotle said, "completes what nature left unfinished".'

4. 'It's better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe. Mistakes are a part of the dues one pays for a full life.' 

5. 'You have to be born a sex symbol. You don't become one. If you're born with it, you'll have it even when you're 100 years old.'

6. 'Many people think they want things, but they don't really have the strength, the discipline. They are weak. I believe that you get what you want if you want it badly enough.'

7. 'I'm a giraffe. I even walk like a giraffe with a long neck and legs. It's a pretty dumb animal, mind you.'

8. 'Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical.'

9. 'There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.'

10. 'I think the quality of sexiness comes from within.'

11. 'If you haven't cried, your eyes can't be beautiful.'

12. 'I've never tried to block out the memories of the past, even though some are painful. I don't understand people who hide from their past. Everything you live through helps to make you the person you are now.'

13. 'Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful.'