Famous Coco Chanel Quotes
“How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something, but to be someone.”
As quoted in Contemporary Quotations (1954) by James Beasley Simpson
“A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.”
As quoted in The Gospel According to Coco Chanel : Life Lessons from the World's Most Elegant Woman (2009) by Karen Karbo
“Youth is something very new: Twenty years ago no one mentioned it.”
As quoted in Coco Chanel : Her Life, Her Secrets (1971)
“I have said that black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony.”
As quoted in Chanel (1987) by Jean Leymarie
Context: Women think of all colors except the absence of color. I have said that black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony.
“Fashion is architecture. It is a matter of proportions.”
As quoted in Coco Chanel : Her Life, Her Secrets (1971) by Marcel Haedrich
Coco Chanel Quotes about fashion
Statement in the 1920s as quoted in Chanel (1987) by Jean Leymari
As quoted in Chanel : A Woman of Her Own (1991) by Axel Madsen, p. 124
“Fashion fades, only style remains the same.”
As quoted in Architectural Digest (September 1994), p. 30
Coco Chanel Quotes
“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”
As quoted in Believing in Ourselves (1992) by Armand Eisen, p. 39
“I was a rebellious child, a rebellious lover, a rebellious couturière — a real devil.”
As quoted in Paris, Paris : Journey Into the City of Light (2005) by David Downie, p. 93
“Nothing is ugly as long as it is alive.”
As quoted in Coco Chanel : Her Life, Her Secrets (1971) by Marcel Haedrich
“The best colour in the whole world is the one that looks good on you.”
As quoted in Beauty in Bloom : A Collection of Beautiful Inspirations (2009) by Natalie Bloom, p. 23
As quoted in Coco Chanel : Her Life, Her Secrets (1971), p. 95
In 1919 I woke up famous and with a new friend who was to give its full meaning to my success.
Statement to Salvador Dalí, about herself and her friendship with Misia Sert, as quoted in The Persistence of Memory : A Biography of Dali (1992) by Meredith Etherington-Smith
“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”
As quoted in Coco Chanel : Her Life, Her Secrets (1971) by Marcel Haedrich
“Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable.”
As quoted in Believing in Ourselves (1992) by Armand Eisen, p. 15
“As long as you know that most men are like children, you know everything.”
As quoted in Thinking Through the Essay (1986) by Judith Barker-Sandbrook and Neil Graham, p. 158
“Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.”
As quoted in You've Got Style : Your Personal Guide for Relating to Others (2000) by Robert Rohm , p. 29
Variant: Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.
“He will soon be claiming that the Resistance has liberated the world”
On Charles De Gaulle from the 1944 interview with, the then MI6 agent, Malcolm Muggeridge. Read the full interview here http://www.chanel-muggeridge.co.uk/the-1944-chanel-muggeridge-interview/.
When asked who she dressed, as quoted in Paris, Paris : Journey Into the City of Light (2005) by David Downie, p. 93
