Style icon Lee Radwill died Friday at the age of 85. Here are some of her best quotes on life and beauty.
"Regrets? I think everyone has regrets, and people who say they haven’t are either liars . . . or narcissists. There have been many things in my life to have regrets about, in the sense I wish I could have changed them, or somehow made them not happen. What I don’t have is envy."
"I have an absurd kind of extravagance. If I see an orchid that’s fantastically expensive, I’ll buy it. It’s worth it, for no other reason than it gives me pleasure."
"I am always aware that I’ve had a special and privileged life, yet it has been balanced by tragedy as it has been for so many others. I believe that without memories there is no life, and that our memories should be of happy times. That’s my choice. "
"When I was young, I used to think that everyone should die at 70 . . . but my closest friends, like Rudolf and Andy [Warhol] and to an extent Capote, let alone most of my close family . . . didn’t even reach that age. There is something to be said for being older, and memories."
"I always begin a room with the rug; it is literally the foundation of the space. I then go on to the furniture."
"One can’t help but be a bit melancholy when you see how the world has changed, and I don’t mean that nostalgically. Every day one is confronted by words and visions of human misery. You would have to have a heart of ice not to be a bit melancholy."
"If I really can be said to have a personal style, I think it is reflected in my taste for the exotic and the unexpected. I like to create rooms which are essentially traditional—and then add touches of the bizarre and the delicious."
"When you see some sun, Paris is the most beautiful city in the world. It brings tears to your eyes.''
"It is difficult for someone raised in my world to learn to express emotion. We are taught early to hide our feelings publicly."
