14 inspirational tidbits from Nora Ephron

By Carrie Mihalcik / current.com / @CDMihalcik

Nora Ephron, the screenwriter behind "Sleepless in Seattle," "You've Got Mail" and "Julie & Julia" and the author of the essay collection "I Feel Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman," died Tuesday at the age of 71.

Ephron inspired several generations of women by writing films that featured strong and capable female characters.

Ephron's first big screenplay success was with her 1989 romantic comedy "When Harry Met Sally." The film, starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, offered a diversion from the traditional romantic comedy and earned her an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay.

Ephron went on to write and direct several popular films, all with strong leading ladies. She was also an acclaimed essayist, novelist, reporter and playwright.

In honor of such an inspirational woman, here are our 14 favorite quotes from Ephron and the characters that she brought to life:

1. "I am continually fascinated at the difficulty intelligent people have in distinguishing what is controversial from what is merely offensive." 

2. "One of the best things about directing movies, as opposed to merely writing them, is that there's no confusion about who’s to blame: You are."

3. "Insane people are always sure that they are fine. It is only the sane people who are willing to admit that they are crazy."

4. "My mother wanted us to understand that the tragedies of your life one day have the potential to be the comic stories the next."

5. "So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around?"

6. "I have no desire to be dominated. Honestly I don't. And yet I find myself becoming angry when I'm not."

7. "In my sex fantasy, nobody ever loves me for my mind."

8. "When you're attracted to someone, it just means that your subconscious is attracted to their subconscious, subconsciously. So what we think of as fate is just two neuroses knowing that they are a perfect match."

9. "Oh, how I regret not having worn a bikini for the entire year I was 26. If anyone young is reading this, go, right this minute, put on a bikini, and don't take it off until you're 34."

10. "Summer bachelors, like summer breezes, are never as cool as they pretend to be."

11. "Reading is everything. Reading makes me feel like I've accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter. Reading gives me something to talk about later on. Reading is the unbelievably healthy way my attention deficit disorder medicates itself."

12. "There's a reason why 40, 50 and 60 don't look the way they used to, and it's not because of feminism or better living through exercise. It's because of hair dye. In the 1950s, only 7 percent of American women dyed their hair; today there are parts of Manhattan and Los Angeles where there are no gray-haired women at all."

13. "I don't think any day is worth living without thinking about what you're going to eat next at all times."

14. "Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim."  

What is your favorite quote or line from Ephron's books or movies? Share in the comments.

(Photo: Getty Images)