As the Beauty and Beast trailer starring Emma Watson is playing on repeat in the office, we thought we would celebrate our favourite Belle by commemorating some of her best soundbites.
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'I don’t want other people to decide who I am. I want to decide that for myself.' Interview with ELLE, 2009
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'Feminism is not here to dictate to you. It’s not prescriptive, it’s not dogmatic. All we are here to do is give you a choice. If you want to run for Prime Minister, you can. If you don’t, that’s wonderful, too. Shave your armpits, don’t shave them, wear flats one day, heels the next. These things are so irrelevant and surface to what it is all really about, and I wish people wouldn’t get caught up in that.' ELLE interview
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'When I started dating I had this kind of Romeo and Juliet, fateful romantic idea about love which was almost that you were a victim and there was a lot of pain involved and that was how it should be, It was such a revelation… to realise that it shouldn’t be that way and that you get to choose who you love and who you decide to give your heart to.' The Telegraph
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'When at 15, my girlfriends started dropping out of their beloved sports teams, because they didn’t want to appear muscle-y, when at 18, my male friends were unable to express their feelings, I decided that I was a feminist.' HeForShe
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'I feel like young girls are told they have to be a princess, and be delicate and fragile, and that's bulls**t. I identify much more with the idea of being a warrior, being a fighter. If I was going to be a princess, I'd be a warrior princess, definitely. I think women are scared of feeling powerful and strong and brave sometimes. I think you’ve got to embrace it.' July 2011 press conference
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'All I can do is follow my instincts, because I'll never please everyone.'
— 2012 interview with The Independent
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'My cinematic crush has been pretty much the same since I was 12: Kevin Costner. I met him in an elevator the other day, and I couldn’t even speak. He said hello, because he is lovely like that, and I couldn’t say anything back.' W Magazine
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'There's nothing wrong with being afraid. It's not the absence of fear; it's overcoming it. Sometimes you've got to blast through and have faith.' July 2011 press conference
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'I'm reading so much and exposing myself to so many new ideas. It almost feels like the chemistry and the structure of my brain is changing so rapidly sometimes.' Paper Magazine
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'It sounds like a cliché but I learnt that you’re not going to fall for the right person until you really love yourself and feel good about how you are.' The Telegraph
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'So often, feminist issues are being discussed in a room labelled for women, with women, talking about women's issues, focusing on women. But this is an issue that affects everyone.' Esquire
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'[My mother] was a woman who valued herself. Seeing her having purpose and feeling good made me happy as a child.' ELLE