13 of our all time favourite Carly Simon quotes

'You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you'

Carly Simon is as much a household name today as she was 50 years ago, with women across the globe turning to her music for comfort and quoting her song lyrics as break up advice.

Let’s be honest – who hasn’t dreamt of re-enacting the classic How to lose a guy in 10 days break up scene by reciting ‘You’re so vain’ mid-argument?

With two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an impressive string of hit records to her name, it’s safe to say that the American singer-songwriter’s music is timeless. But it's not just her song lyrics that have us obsessed, it’s her wise words.

In her 71 years, she seems to have overcome pretty much everything imaginable: cancer, infidelity, a husband suffering with drug abuse – even Marvin Gaye’s flirtatious advances.

If her 2015 memoir Boys in the Trees taught us anything, it’s that she’s one hell of a strong woman, empowering herself and overcoming a lot of pain to get to where she is.

Here are 13 of our all-time favourite Carly Simon quotes reminding us exactly why we love her...

1. ‘A really strong woman accepts the war she went through and is ennobled by her scars.’

2. ‘You usually can't tell what's inspiring until you look back on it.’

3. ‘I always think it's interesting to dig a little bit deeper every time you go to some place that seems like a revelation or a strong connection to an emotional truth.’

4. ‘As a singer I tried on all these hats, these voices, these clothes, and eventually out came me.’

5. ‘We need role models who are going to break the mould.’

6. ‘Everyone has problems, and learning to share them is essential. Hiding pain requires an enormous amount of energy; sharing it is liberating.’

7. ‘We are in this period now where we all are trying to be in shape physically and deny ourselves any pleasure.’

8. ‘I just want to show off my scar proudly and not be afraid of it.’

9. ‘I don’t think sexual infidelity means the end of a marriage. What’s more damaging is lying about it.’

10. ‘If I were to locate and then identify all the hellish things we all have to go through in life in order to uncover one minute of happiness, it would take up a lot of space.’

11. ‘You know when you take the paint off an old canvas and you discover that something’s been painted underneath it? That’s what I feel like – that part of the old is coming though the new.’

12. ‘I took it to heart that in order to be a good person, you never said anything mean about anybody.’

13. [About the truth in her songs] ‘They are fictionalised, to a degree, I don’t have to swear that everything is true.’