BETTE MIDLER "SONGS TELL UNTOLD TRUTHS"

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THE AARP BETTE MIDLER INTERVIEW

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Bette Midler

Legendary stage and film actress and star of the upcoming “Parental Guidance,” Bette Midler, shares her biggest life lessons in the newest October/November issue of AARP The Magazine, giving readers a look into what the inspirational Divine Miss M believes above all else!

“Life Is Not Your Personal Express Lane”

“You've got to figure, "Well, there are 7 billion other people in the world. It doesn't all have to be about me!" It took me about 66 years to come to this conclusion.”

“Songs Tell Untold Truths”

“Twenty-seven people sang "Wind Beneath My Wings" before I got around to it. A lot of people saw the movie that I sang it in, Beaches, and what they came away with was that song. They turned to their loved ones and said, "You know, you are the wind beneath my wings!" The song expressed how they felt in a way a simple "I love you" would not have.”

“Beauty Ain't Pretty”

“You should be very careful about who does your mani-pedi, because you can really screw your toes up. You should stop beating your hair into submission, even if you don't like it. Everyone should exfoliate, every day, even guys.”

“More than two drinks a day will ruin your skin. And if you don't have a full-length mirror, you're going to get fat. Period.”

“The Big World Is Better Than Your Little One”

“When you have had your head down doing something — even something you love, love, love — and you finally pick your head up and see the world around you, it's just so beautiful. It's just … oh, my God, I'm so glad I lived! That's when you realize you need balance. I seek that now all the time.”

“You Can't Always Be "On," No Matter What People Expect”

“For a while it was exhausting, and now I don't really care.”

“It's OK to Let Go of a Dream”

“That's exactly it: They're dreams. A lot of the time they're fantasies, and you become enslaved to them. Sometimes they're hormonal. When the hormones fade, then the dream no longer means the same thing. That's when you need to get yourself a new dream.”


Photo By: Sara de Boer/Retna