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In their own words

Brigitte Bardot quotes

9 quotations, each verified against its source and credited to the work it comes from — the wording as Brigitte Bardot wrote or said it, not as the internet passes it around.

Illustrated portrait of Brigitte Bardot
At thirty-eight I gave everything up for the animals. It is the finest decision of my life.

A 38 ans, j'ai tout quitté pour les animaux. C'est la plus belle décision de ma vie.

Brigitte Bardot, interviewed in Le Monde, 20 January 2018
Without the animals, I would have killed myself.

Sans les animaux, je me serais suicidée.

Brigitte Bardot, headline of her Le Monde interview, 20 January 2018
I gave my youth and my beauty to men. I am giving my wisdom and my experience to the animals.

J'ai donné ma jeunesse et ma beauté aux hommes, je donne ma sagesse et mon expérience aux animaux.

Brigitte Bardot, as published by the Fondation Brigitte Bardot
It has run over me, day after day, without my worrying about it. I have no idea whether I am old, and I do not want to know. I carry on living as far as I am able.

Elle m'a coulé dessus, jour après jour, sans que ça me préoccupe. J'en sais rien si je suis vieille, moi, et je ne veux pas le savoir. Je continue à vivre dans la mesure de mes possibilités.

Brigitte Bardot on age, Le Monde, 28 September 2024
My isolation is a choice. It is a luxury. And it has always been my dream.

Mon isolement, c'est un choix. C'est un luxe. Et ça a toujours été mon rêve.

Brigitte Bardot, Le Monde, 28 September 2024
I did my job as a star, letting myself be photographed, smiling, answering the questions, dressed in a bikini and then in an evening gown. Not a minute of respite or of rest. This profession spoils, damages and destroys everything in its path.

J'assumais mon travail de star, me laissant photographier, souriant, répondant aux questions, habillée en bikini, puis en robe du soir. Pas une minute de répit ni de repos. […] Cette profession gâche, abîme, détruit tout sur son passage.

Brigitte Bardot on Venice, 1958, in Initiales B.B. (1996), pp. 206–207
Goodbye Venice, goodbye unrecognised beauty that a public greedy for photographs violates, insults and dirties, without knowing, without seeing, without understanding what matters about it. Venice made me think of myself.

Adieu Venise, adieu beauté méconnue qu'un public avide de photos viole, bafoue, salit, sans savoir, sans voir, sans en comprendre l'essentiel. Venise me faisait penser à moi.

Brigitte Bardot, Initiales B.B. (1996), pp. 206–207
I looked like nobody. I was too ugly and the others were too beautiful.

Je ne ressemblais à personne, j'étais trop vilaine et les autres trop beaux !

Brigitte Bardot on her childhood, Initiales B.B. (1996), p. 44
I wept over that photograph, swearing to the poor horse that I would spend my life trying to avenge him.

Je pleurais sur cette photo, jurant à ce pauvre cheval que je passerais ma vie à essayer de le venger.

Brigitte Bardot on the photograph that began her animal campaigning, Initiales B.B. (1996)

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