Goldie Hawn Turns 70: Her 7 Best Pearls of Wisdom

Goldie Hawn at Glamour’s Women of the Year Awards on Nov. 9. (Photo: Getty Images)

Goldie Hawn possesses an eternal youthfulness that makes it hard to believe she turns 70 years old on Nov. 21.

For someone who built a career off of being dim, the actress has had the last laugh. Not only has she received professional accolades (like an Academy Award for Private Benjamin), but after two failed early marriages, she has had one of the most enduring relationships in Hollywood. She’s spent more than 30 years with Kurt Russell, with whom she raised four children, including actors Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson, in their blended family. And throughout her life in the spotlight, she’s maintained that sunny disposition through a lot of personal enlightenment (not just anyone can call themselves a happiness expert.

In honor of her milestone birthday — which is probably best celebrated with a Goldie movie marathon, including Protocol, First Wives Club, and Overboard at home this weekend (“No dear, I’m not a chicken, I’m an emu”) — we present to you seven of her best quotes:

Her approach to life: “I go in headfirst, I make mistakes, and I don’t regret any of them.” – to the New York Times, 1996

Becoming an actress: “I didn’t become a movie star because I made people cry or because I had some incredible romantic persona. I came on the scene with an effervescence and a lightness and an ability to elevate spirits, which, by the way, I do not sell short.” – to Fame magazine, via the Los Angeles Times, in 1990

Future superstar Goldie in 1964. (Photo: Getty Images)

Navigating stardom: “I went to a psychologist because I had lost my smile. I was forcing an emotion that had been so natural to me and that now I didn’t feel. I was out in space. I was no longer authentic. This happens to a lot of us at one time or another. And so I spent many years in analysis, long after I lost that anxiety. Analysis is about self-discovery, and once you begin to answer questions about yourself, that’s the beginning of one of the best parts of your life.” – to Prevention in 2012

Being a supporter of women: “I’m a girl’s girl. If I ever turned a woman off I would be devastated. I do love men and I love making love to men, but my sexuality isn’t a weapon or a device. It never has been.” – to the New York Times in 1996

Motherhood: “We as mothers have to be able not just to pass the baton, but give our daughters free rein to grow, to make mistakes. It doesn’t mean they’re not watched, but it means they’re honored. And you watch them individually. You watch them fight you. Being a mother also is witnessing. Just be there. You don’t have to power over. Certainly in my life, having a daughter follow in mom’s footstep isn’t easy. [Kate] said, ‘Hey I’m my own person,’ and dammit, we made sure she was. I believe this is one of the most important things as a parent you can do, which is to let go at times so these children can formulate their own identity.” – on Oprah’s Master Class in 2012

Not marrying Kurt: “A lasting relationship isn’t about marriage. It’s about compatibility and communication. And you both need to want it to work. If one person does not want it to work, it isn’t going to work. Intention is the key. It’s also about not losing yourself in each other. Being together, two pillars holding up the house and the roof, and being different, not having to agree on everything, learning how to deal with not agreeing. Everything’s a choice.” – to Porter magazine in June 2015

Growing older: “What helps with aging is serious cognition — thinking and understanding. You have to truly grasp that everybody ages. Everybody dies. There is no turning back the clock. So the question in life becomes: What are you going to do while you’re here?”- to Prevention in 2012