From sassing people both in space and on twitter to encouraging people with her hilarious and honest discussions on mental illness, Carrie Fisher was a woman who, no matter what hat she was wearing-- be it author, actress, script doctor, or advocate-- always had a way with words. She was a woman with enormous wit and a whole lot of talent. In honor of her recent passing, here's twenty quotes of hers that will keep her light alive even after she's gone.
1. "If my life wasn’t funny it would just be true, and that is unacceptable."
2. “I have a mess in my head sometimes, and there’s something very satisfying about putting it into words. Certainly it’s not something that you’re in charge of, necessarily, but writing about it, putting it into your words, can be a very powerful experience.”
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4. "She [Princess Leia] can boss men around. She can do anything she want, she's powerful, she's witty. And she doesn't take any shit."
5. "[On being a script doctor] Make the women smarter and the love scenes better."
6. "I am mentally ill. I can say that. I'm not ashamed of that. I survived that, I'm still surviving it, but bring it on. Better me than you."
7. "We treat beauty like an accomplishment, and that is insane. Everyone in LA says, “Oh you look good,” and you listen for them to say you’ve lost weight. It’s never “How are you?” or “You seem happy!”’
8. "People have known me all their lives – better than I’ve known myself. And they’ve liked me a lot more than I’ve liked myself a lot of those times. That’s what I think is so powerful; it’s these fairytales and there’s going to be more. There’s something so darling. There’s this British word, chuffed. I’m chuffed to be a part of it [Star Wars]."
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10. "When I love, I love for miles and miles. A love so big it should either be outlawed or it should have a capital and its own currency."
11. "One of the things that baffles me (and there are quite a few) is how there can be so much lingering stigma with regards to mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder. In my opinion, living with manic depression takes a tremendous amount of balls. ... At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if you’re living with this illness and functioning at all, it’s something to be proud of, not ashamed of.”
12. "But people do ask me, I think that's the craziest question, 'Did you know it [Star Wars] was gonna be that big of a hit?'. So now I say, 'Yes. In fact, I thought it would be bigger. And I'm let down.'"
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14. " [On pursuing dreams with mental illness] Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow."
15. Men don’t age better than women, they’re just allowed to age.
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17. “I’m resigned to the fact that I will be [known as Princess Leia for the rest of her life], in a very pleasant way. It’s OK that I’m this gun-toting girl in the sky. I’m not afraid of that.”
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19. "[On advice for people with bipolar disorder] Oh, yes. You can outlast anything. It’s complicated, it’s a job, but it’s doable. One of the greatest things that happened for me was that psychotic episode. Having survived it, I now know the difference between a problem and an inconvenience. Bipolar disorder can be a great teacher. It’s a challenge, but it can set you up to be able to do almost anything else in your life.
20. "I always wrote. I wrote from when I was 12. That was therapeutic for me in those days. I wrote things to get them out of feeling them, and onto paper. So writing in a way saved me, kept me company. I did the traditional thing with falling in love with words, reading books and underlining lines I liked and words I didn’t know."
