Mum knows best: 10 priceless quotes from the world's wisest and wittiest women
We celebrate Mother's Day with this fantastic collection of wit and wisdom from some of the world's most successful women.


Hillary Clinton
One night when [Chelsea] was crying, as babies do, I said: "You've never been a baby before and I've never been a mother. We're just going to have to work together and figure this out." But it was the greatest experience of my life
Bette Davis
My mother was an incredible woman, but she wasn't a stage mum at all. She worked very hard to give me the money to go to school and without her belief, it's possible I might not have pursued this, but she always had the belief that I would do something unusual and she thought that this [acting] was the area for me. I guess she was right
Enid Blyton
I don't really know how I get into the hearts of children. I only know that I love them. I want them to grow up into good, decent grown-ups. I want them to be kind and loving and generous. That sounds, of course, very pious, but it isn't pious at all. It's simply and solely what every single mother really in her heart of hearts wants for her own child, and I just happen to want it for all children
Anne Robinson
My mother was very beautiful, very over the top, she ran an excellent business and she was very much the breadwinner. I didn't know until 1969 that you were supposed to take men seriously
Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
My mother kept pushing me and said: "Go on." She said: "Have a go at it." I didn't like it, at first...I kept writing home to say that I didn't like it and she kept writing letters back to say, "stick it out". Really it was her that kept me going
Margaret Atwood
[On her mother embracing a bohemian lifestyle when Margaret was a toddler] She never very much liked being indoors and sweeping the floor and doing things like that. She would much rather be outside, which was probably why it was a successful marriage...it might be other people's vision of hell to be in the woods surrounded by bears and mosquitoes with two small children under the age of three. But she quite took to it
Isabel Allende
I saw my son was alone, not dating. Very handsome, by the way, and very charming, and I thought, what a waste. And so I went out to find a bride. Mothers in India do that so I said, "why not". I needed to test her in a very brief time. So I had a trip to the Amazon and decided to take her. I had only seen her once in a restaurant over sushi. And we ended up in the Amazon in a very stressful trip. And she passed all the tests so then I introduced her to my son... and they have been married for eleven very happy years!
Glenn Close
I'm much calmer now than I was before I had Annie. She had made me realise the truth of something that I'd heard all my life, but never really understood, which is what's important is the moment. Moment-to-moment living. And that life is right now. It's not tomorrow, it's not six months from now
Doris Lessing
It's much easier to bring up girls than boys... Your daughter is your daughter for all of her life. Your son is your son till he gets a wife. I've just seen this happening. It is horrifying
Shirley Conran
Before he left home my eldest son said to me: "I think you've done a good job of bringing me up." I was stunned. I stopped peeling the potatoes or whatever I was doing and said, "Why? Tell me quick." And he said: "Well, I've got this terrible lisp, this speech impediment, and I'm very small, almost a dwarf, and I'm practically blind — and you don't care."
These quotations about being a mother – or having a mother – all come from interviews conducted on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour programme.
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.
-
A secret swimming pool at Buckingham Palace? Country Life Quiz of the Day, June 20, 2025
Friday's quiz peeks behind the door of a royal palace and asks about one of the cruellest twists of fate in Greek mythology.
-
Horses eating ice cream and buying a last-minute Ascot winner: An evening at Goffs London Sale
With some smart bidding, you could end up in the winner's circle in less than a week.
-
'I take a box of watercolours and a sketchpad with me everywhere': Tess Newall's consuming passions
Decorative artist Tess Newall, best known for her bespoke murals and furniture, talks to Country Life about her prized collection of painted plates, her love of Thin Lizzy and her eclectic podcast taste.
-
'When it comes to dating, longer notes are allowed and potentially even encouraged': A modern-day guide to voice notes
Sophia Money-Coutts is the new Debrett's and she's here every Wednesday to set some modern etiquette wrongs, right.
-
Steve Backshall on sharks, quicksand, and getting his fingertips eaten by piranhas
The adventurer, broadcaster, scientist and writer Steve Backshall joins the Country Life podcast.
-
In pursuit of Nancy: Outrageous star Bessie Carter on bringing the Mitford family to life
The scion of acting royalty Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter reveals why she loved playing Nancy Mitford on screen and what it feels like to act opposite her mother on the stage.
-
David Beckham to guest edit Country Life
'I am looking forward to celebrating what the countryside means to me and my family,' says David Beckham as he gets ready to edit Country Life's issue of October 22, 2025.
-
Sophia Money-Coutts: How do you turn down another godchild without causing offence?
Sophia Money-Coutts is the new Debrett's and she's here every Wednesday to set some modern etiquette wrongs, right.
-
'I spent 84 years living in the countryside, and have just moved to a city. Here's what I've discovered.'
Charles Moseley has lived in a small village in Cambridgeshire for decades, but now he’s made the leap with his wife to the cathedral city of Ely, the subject of his latest book.
-
From the Country Life archive: The St Michael’s Mount Barge long oarsmen
Every Monday, Melanie Bryan, delves into the hidden depths of Country Life's extraordinary archive to bring you a long-forgotten story, photograph or advert.