Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I've got a lot of laughter lines. You don't get laughter lines on your face without having a lot of fun in your life.
I'm not going to be told that I shouldn't be doing anything, or behaving in any particular way at any age of my life.
I don't like anything with too much dependency. Children are very dependent, which is probably why we never had them.
Don't expect anything from anybody, work hard, put your head down, be good at what you do and good stuff will happen.
As a young woman, before I had any money, I went backpacking across India, and I was aware of how gritty it could be.
I don't spend a lot of time worrying about how I look and I don't fall into the trap of judging myself by my appearance.
I use my clothes to make my day better - for example, if it's a dull day, I'll wear something bright to cheer myself up.
It can be difficult to find investment for a new business, particularly one which is highly innovative or breaks new ground.
The minute I think 'Oh God, I don't want to do this because I'm scared,' is the moment I have to do something, whatever it is.
I would have liked children, but I am not all disappointed. I've had a lot of stuff thrown at me in life so I don't dwell on it.
I look in the mirror and see lines, but I have earned those lines. It has taken me 59 years to get them and I am not losing them now.
I don't cook at all, and whenever my husband Paul goes away he leaves meals for me and I can't even be bothered to put them in the oven.
I need quite a lot going on, so a perfect holiday for me is one in a cooler climate with wonderful scenery, animals or great architecture.
I think I'm absolutely perfect. Because if I'm not good at something I completely banish it from my mind. Completely. Like it never happened.
People can call me what they like - fat, ugly, sour - but tell me I'm not fair, tell me I'm not ethical, those are the things that bother me.
I feel like the luckiest person alive. I spend my life doing the stuff I love. I'm surrounded by inventive people who are full of energy and life.
Playing the piano was what I loved doing for myself, but as soon as it became a 'thing' that I was being pushed to pursue by my teachers, I rebelled.
A lot of people on holiday get very intolerant of things that go wrong, but getting wound up about the plane being late won't make it come any sooner.
When I concentrate, my face is deadpan and I can see there is a coldness there - when I'm making business decisions I know I can be quite dispassionate.
I'm always asked about how women get on in the boardroom and my answer is always, 'Never acknowledge that you are a woman. Your gender is not the point.'
I think the thing about business is that it's not completely separate to life. You're selling to people so it's all about life skills - and common sense.
If people have got an amazing opportunity such as on 'Dragons' Den' and they mess it up by being lazy with their presentation it does make me a bit cross.
I suffer from reverse body dysmorphia. When I look in the mirror I see somebody slimmer. It's quite a shock to see myself on TV, especially on widescreen.
I often see people who I think could be really successful in business but they just don't realise they have the skills and they don't believe in themselves.
People can be very serious with me, and expect me to be very businesslike all the time. So I have to help them get over that by showing them that I enjoy life.
I think Cate Blanchett always gets it right. She seems very natural and wears interesting but not ridiculous clothes - she seems to push the boundaries just enough.
I am terrible. When I buy stuff, I want it straight away. If it says two to three weeks delivery - no way. I will find somewhere that will deliver it that afternoon.
My parents felt I should earn my money because I would then value it. So they would pay me a shilling or two to do jobs such as washing the car, cleaning and washing up.
You need to tell people where they stand. If someone's done a good job, you should tell them they've done damn well. But if they haven't, you should take the same attitude.
As an entrepreneur and employer, in the fairly recent past I have been astonished at how difficult it has been to get young people to take the idea of getting a job seriously.
Retirement has never, ever crossed my mind. And I honestly can't imagine when or why it would. If you're doing the thing you love, why on earth would you want to stop doing it?
People shouldn't choose their careers on whether it's cool or not. They should choose their careers on, 'Are they good at it, do they love it, is it going to give them a good life?'
I'm not scared of many sectors, so if you look at my investment portfolio, it is pretty wide. I've invested in anything from market research firms to fashion houses and textile companies.
My first paid job was leading pony rides along Minehead seafront when I was eight. I probably got paid sixpence - not much but I loved horses and it gave me a great chance to be near them.
You don't have to start with your dream job, and your idea of what the dream job might be will change during a working life that will have its share of ups and downs, setbacks and advances.
You give power to issues if you pay a lot of attention to them. The more attention you give them the more power they have. So the most powerful thing you can do is just get on and ignore it.
Much as I'm loving the 'Strictly' experience, I'm sure I'll always be better known for my business career and my appearances on 'Dragons' Den' than I will for my cha-cha-cha or Viennese waltz.
People who buy your product or use your service don't care how tall or short you are, or what gender you are, or your age. It is irrelevant. That is not the basis on which your product is judged.
My friends would say I'm not the person to go to for tea, a cuddle and sympathy, because I can't deliver. But if you want something sorted out and need a champion who will stand by your side, that is me.
I have definitely learnt in business that when you have a smart, engaged entrepreneur with good judgement they can really drive even a mediocre business forward so to me the entrepreneur is very important.
I had my first flower stall when I was seven, at the end of the drive in Minehead, Somerset. Nobody was stopping so I moved it to my neighbour's drive, because I thought: 'Location, location, location.' It worked.
The one thing I say, I will invest in anything - I don't care what it is - as long as it doesn't cut across my ethical code, because at the end of the day I want to be able to live with myself. I want to feel proud of what I do.
If you're looking for investment you've got to think about what the investor gets from being involved with your business. A lot of people think about what they're getting from their point of view but not about what the investor gets out of a deal.
We have a very good history of manufacturing in this country but I worry that these skills are being lost. We walk around saying, 'We haven't got any manufacturing any more' but Made In Britain really means something, particularly in other parts of the world. We need to support British manufacturing.
When I sold Weststar Holidays, the idea was to take stock and stop and then decide in life - we were going to travel around the world or whatever we were going to do. After about two weeks my husband said to me, 'Oh for goodness sake Deborah, get yourself a business because this is driving me bonkers.'