ACTIVITY
In small groups, discuss a set of quotes by Helen Gurley Brown, who was Cosmopolitan magazine’s chief-editor from 1965 until 1997. Then, choose your favourite quote, read it and explain to the rest of the class why you chose it.
You can use expressions such as:
- I believe that...
- I think that...
- In my view,...
- I agree / I disagree with you on that.
- The way I see it,
- In my opinion,...
- I would say that...
- It seems to me that...
- What do you think?
- What’s your opinion on...?
- How do you feel about...?
- Do you agree?
| "Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere." | "Feed the alligators and you get bigger alligators." | "Do what's in front of you as well as possible. Keep going until you realize what you're best at." |
| "Don't use men to get what you want in life. Get it yourself." | "If you’re not a sex object, you’re in trouble." | “My success was not based so much on any great intelligence but on great common sense.” |
| "Beauty can't amuse you, but brainwork -- reading, writing, thinking -- can." | "The prerequisite for making love is to like someone enormously." | “Laugh a little when the joke's on you." |
| "I hope I have convinced you -- the only thing that separates successful people from the ones who aren't is the willingness to work very, very hard." | "The happiest people I know are not those who are the most beautiful, rich or famous. The happiest people I see are simply those who stay cheerful and try to cheer up others while getting through their own bad stuff. " | "Money, if it does not bring you happiness, will at least help you be miserable in comfort." |
| "Even if sex isn't great every time, it's a unique form of communication and togetherness that can help you stay together with a good degree of contentment." | "You know you can't hope yourself a better life - you must take yourself there." | "If you do the best you can, no matter how bad the situation, you probably are going to come out okay." |
| "I never liked the looks of the life that was programmed for me -- ordinary, hillbilly and poor -- and I repudiated it from the time I was 7 years old." | "The faster you get back to people, the less brilliant you have to be." | "Feeling insecure is good for you. It forces you to do something better, drives you to use all your talents." |
| "How could any woman not be a feminist? The girl I'm editing for wants to be known for herself. If that's not a feminist message, I don't know what is." | "People's lives change. To keep all your old friends is like keeping all your old clothes -- pretty soon your closet is so jammed and everything so crushed you can't find anything to wear. Help these friends when they need you; bless the years and happy times when you meant a lot to each other, but try not to have the guilts if new people mean more to you now." | “Never fail to know that If you are doing all the talking, you are boring somebody.” |
| "I was mousy on the outside but inside I'm this tiger and I have to get on with it." | "Get up and do it if it needs to be done, even if you hate it!" |