34 Quotes by Margot Fonteyn

Ballet is more than a profession – it is a way of life.

The one important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one’s work seriously and taking one’s self seriously. The first is imperative and the second is disastrous.

Minor things can become moments of great revelation when encountered for the first time.

I have never wanted to live to be old, so old I’d run out of friends or money.

I think perhaps I’ve learned to be myself. I have a theory that all artists who would be important – painters and writers – must learn to be themselves. It takes a very long time.

The world of dance is a natural world from which civilization has divorced many of us by making it appear remote – something reserved for the few who have a special talent.

Any sort of pretension induces mediocrity in art and life alike.