Traveling to swimming meets took me beyond my small-town existence, gave me a hint of the exciting world outside of my own home. Esther Williams More Quotes by Esther Williams More Quotes From Esther Williams What the public expects and what is healthy for an individual are two very different things. Esther Williams health inspiration two The wisdom acquired with the passage of time is a useless gift unless you share it. Esther Williams athlete wisdom teaching Somehow I kept my head above water. I relied on the discipline, character, and strength that I had started to develop as that little girl in her first swimming pool. Esther Williams swimming girl character My training in Science of Mind had begun with my mother. She took me to a different church every Sunday, and she encouraged me to question the minister afterward. Esther Williams training sunday mother Barely a teenager, Elizabeth Taylor was already more beautiful and voluptuous than Miss America. When she arrived at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel for our magazine shoot, I was bowled over. I couldn't believe she was only fourteen. She filled out a swimsuit better than I did. We did the pictures, including one shot of me teaching her to float. With that superstructure of hers, she floated just fine. What she couldn't do was sink. Esther Williams teenager teaching beautiful We can't all win Olympic medals. Even I never won one. Esther Williams medal olympic-medals winning It appeared as if I had invited the audience into the water with me, and it conveyed the sensation that being in there was absolutely delicious Esther Williams invited audience water Marriage to Fernando offered shelter and security, but the shackle was the price I'd pay. Esther Williams shelter marriage pay Life magazine ran a page featuring me and three other girls that was clearly the precursor of Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues Esther Williams issues girl sports Even though I had a lucrative contract with MGM, I had a husband who was drinking and gambling our money away faster than I could make it. Esther Williams gambling husband drinking I always took it for granted that there would be life after Hollywood. Esther Williams granted hollywood would-be I always felt that if I made a movie, it would be one movie; I didn't see how they could make 26 swimming movies. Esther Williams swimming movie would-be I took my daily swim at the Beverly Hills Hotel pool despite the presence of onlookers Esther Williams beverly-hills hospitality swim Clark Gable was the first to have called me a mermaid. Esther Williams mermaid firsts I was all in gold sequins for Million Dollar Mermaid, 50 feet in the air Esther Williams mermaid air feet I never walked the streets of New York hoping to be a musical comedy star. For one thing, they would have thought I was too tall, because l was five feet eight and a half, and they were all little bitty things running around in the studio at that time. Esther Williams stars new-york running I was 15, and the years of hard swimming had packed muscle on my frame and made me very strong. Not as strong as a football player, but strong enough to inflict heavy damage. Esther Williams swimming strong football I remember when I first walked into Mayer's cavernous office. You had to walk 50 yards to get to him, and in that time he could really study everything about you. Esther Williams yards office firsts I ended up buying a restaurant. Already we had invested in a gas station and a metal products plant. Esther Williams gas-stations plant buying Howard Hughes himself was a regular at the restaurant, and in a way it became his headquarters, too. Howard had recently relocated to Las Vegas, so when he wanted to do business in Los Angeles, he went into the back of our restaurant to use the telephone. Esther Williams vegas business use