Certain people can have a huge impact on your life without ever having met them. Nora Ephron is one of those people.

Ephron’s mother once told her, ‘Take notes, everything is copy.’ And that’s what she did. Her wry observations about life were sharp, funny and accurate. They make you nod emphatically and say, ‘Yes, that’s so true!’

Ephron began her career reporting for the New York Post. As well as being a three-time Oscar nominated screenwriter (When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and Silkwood) she continued to write essays, non-fiction and two memoirs; I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman (which we fought over in the ELLE office) and I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections.

All around the ELLE office today, we’ve been remembering some of her best quotes from her own life and her much-loved films.

Here are some of our favourites.

‘Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.’

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

‘Oh, how I regret not having worn a bikini for the entire year I was twenty-six. If anyone young is reading this, go, right this minute, put on a bikini, and don't take it off until thirty-four.’

- I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron

‘I always read the last page of a book first so that if I die before I finish I'll know how it turned out.’

‘I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.’

‘I've been doing a lot of thinking, and the thing is, I love you.’

"I want you to know, I will never want that wagon wheel coffee table"

- When Harry Met Sally

‘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.’

– Sleepless in Seattle

Tell us your favourite quotes @ELLEuk