"I see my purpose in life as making the world a happier place to be in... David Niven..

"This is a terrible confession to make, but after I left the Army I had a number of things to try. I had a great conceit to think that if all else failed I could always go to Hollywood. So when all else did fail I really went to Hollywood. And then I found out how wrong I was."... David Niven on his early days in Hollywood..

"I've been lucky enough to win an Oscar, write a bestseller.. my other dream would be to have a painting in the Louvre. The only way that's going to happen is if I paint a dirty one on the wall of the gentlemen's lavatory."... David Niven..

"I loved David for his friendship, his relish for life, his humour and his intelligence"... Elizabeth Taylor..

"I was selling booze with some ex-bootleggers... I enjoyed being with Bogey most of all"... David Niven..

"David was a gentle man, a gentleman of wit, and he'll be missed by all of us who value style and taste"... Cary Grant..

"They gave me very good lines and then cut to Deborah Kerr whilst I was saying them"... David Niven on his role in Separate Tables..

"David's wonderful spirit will be missed by all who knew him. He was a great friend"... James Stewart..

"You can count on Errol Flynn, he'll always let you down"... David Niven on friend and fellow film star Errol Flynn..

"If you want sophistication, go have lunch with Niven"... Burt Reynolds..

"The only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping and showing off his shortcomings"... David Niven on the streaker who ran accross the stage whilst he was hosting the 46th Academy Awards..

"I have a face that is a cross between two pounds of halibut and an explosion in an old clothes closet."... David Niven..

"Working with David Niven was the only time I ever looked forward to filming. I just couldn't wait to wake up each morning and go to work so he could make me laugh"... Marlon Brando..

"Old age has got to start creeping up on me one day soon, and frankly I'm very scared. I don't want to be old. I've always felt so young. And I want to stay that way."... David Niven..

"I make two movies a year to take care of the butcher and the baker and the school fees. Then I try to write, but it's not that easy. Acting is what's easy."... before writing and releasing his two autobiographical books..

"If I wasn't an actor I'd be unemployable, or at best the secretary to a golf club somewhere. Nine holes at that, and blue in the face with port."... David Niven..

"I sometimes think that David Niven should not take all the parts he's given."... Review of A Kiss for Corliss by Caroline Lejeune..

"Tomorrow, Trubshawe, I am going to get married again, thereby quite possibly making the greatest mistake of my life."... David Niven prior to his second marriage..

"Rita is a darling and probably the only really sweet girl out here, but neither of us want to marry and she will never become Primmie II: I doubt that anyone could."... David Niven on Rita Hayworth..

"This actor is tall, dark and not the slightest bit handsome."... Samuel Goldwyn on David Niven..

"Malta is a sod of a place."... David Niven on life in the Army and being stationed in Malta..

"Keep the circus going inside you, keep it going, don't take anything too seriously, it'll all work out in the end"... David Niven to Robert Wagner..

"Going to war was the only unselfish thing I have ever done for humanity"... David Niven..