Judi Dench

"it’s not about being childish – that’s different – it’s being childlike, maintaining your sense of wonder."

"There's magic to be mined in mistakes."

"I get sillier as I get older, so I don't know what wisdom means. I can only pass on something that I've been acquainted with and let whomever it is pick the bones out of it."

"Just because somebody says something about your character doesn't necessarily mean that it's true. You certainly don't have to come on and live up to those expectations. What someone says can often reveal more about the speaker than the subject."

"There’s no right way of performing Shakespeare. And that’s why the plays are still being done."

"[Judi Dench, referring to departed colleagues] Where are all those people? Can't believe it. How can it happen? They were so alive and -- so present, so vital. That's why we have to love the now, haven't we? Try not to live in the future.[Brendan O'Hea] Or the past.[JD} Well, you have to live a little in the past, because it's part of us, it's who we are. But don't -dwell- in the past. God, we should make the best of every single second we have."

"The word ‘play’ is at the heart of what we do as actors – players putting on plays by playwrights in playhouses for playgoers. Play is everything."

"Love all, trust a few / Do wrong to none."

"We’re custodians of the language. Just for a little while."