Straight from today’s Quotle — here’s who really said it, and the story behind it. Play again

Who really said it

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry

Not Audrey Hepburn — actually Sam Levenson Sam Levenson 1911–1980 · American humorist, teacher & TV personality
Disputed In copyright

Written by humorist Sam Levenson in his 1973 book In One Era and Out the Other. Audrey Hepburn cherished the piece and read it aloud to family — and her son recited it at her 1993 funeral — but she always credited Levenson, never claiming it as her own.

Last verified 14 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

Put it on a slide

Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry” Sam Levenson, In One Era and Out the Other (1973) — often misattributed to Audrey Hepburn.

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Audrey Hepburn. Use the credit shown above instead.

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Estate of Sam Levenson / his publisher). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool

In context

Evoking the world of Sam Levenson — American humorist, teacher & TV personality. Theme: "For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The documented source

Author
Sam Levenson
Work
In One Era and Out the Other
First published
1973
Popular title
“Time-Tested Beauty Tips”

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

The familiar “beauty tips” that circulate online are an assembly of two passages from Levenson’s book — hints he addressed to his daughter and a letter to his newborn granddaughter.

Quote Investigator: origin of the beauty tips

How we traced it

  • Quote Investigator ↗ traces the lines to Sam Levenson’s 1973 book In One Era and Out the Other, assembled from two separate passages.
  • Goodreads ↗ attributes the quote to Sam Levenson and tags it “misattributed-audrey-hepburn.”
  • Per Quote Investigator, Hepburn read the piece to her family and her son recited it at her 1993 funeral — but she credited Levenson, never claiming authorship.
In copyright

These lines were first published in Sam Levenson’s 1973 book In One Era and Out the Other. A 1973 work by an identifiable author remains under U.S. copyright, held by Levenson’s estate and publisher.

Fact-check

Why everyone credits Audrey Hepburn

This is one of the internet’s classic “magnet” misattributions: a warm, quotable passage pinned to a beloved star who merely loved reading it aloud.

Audrey Hepburn Misattributed

Endlessly shared on social media over her image, but Hepburn did not write it. Per Quote Investigator ↗, she recited it to family and credited its real author.

The lines are Sam Levenson’s, from his 1973 book In One Era and Out the Other; Hepburn simply loved and recited them — per Quote Investigator ↗.

Context

How the mix-up spread

Audrey Hepburn genuinely treasured Levenson’s words — she reportedly read them to her sons, and her son Sean recited them at her 1993 memorial. Because the passage travelled so closely with her name and image, the internet gradually dropped Levenson’s name and made Hepburn the “author.”

She loved reciting it — and always credited the man who wrote it.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Kindness

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Investigator: For Attractive Lips, Speak Words of Kindnessquoteinvestigator.com

The authoritative trace to Sam Levenson’s 1973 book and how two passages were combined.
Goodreads: quote by Sam Levensongoodreads.com

Attributes the lines to Levenson and flags the Audrey Hepburn misattribution.
Snopes: Did Audrey Hepburn Author These ‘Beauty Tips’?snopes.com

Fact-check confirming Levenson as author and Hepburn’s reciting role.
Sam Levenson (Wikipedia)en.wikipedia.org

Biography of the humorist who wrote the lines.
Audrey Hepburn (Wikipedia)en.wikipedia.org

Biography of the actress to whom the lines are popularly misattributed.

The author

About Sam Levenson

Sam Levenson

1911–1980 · American humorist, teacher & TV personality

Sam Levenson was a New York schoolteacher turned humorist, author, and television personality known for warm, folksy reflections on family life. His 1973 book In One Era and Out the Other gathered his gentle wisdom, including the “beauty tips” addressed to his family. He died in 1980, more than a decade before the lines became attached to Audrey Hepburn’s name.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

The primary source (Chicago)

Sam Levenson, In One Era and Out the Other (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1973). Origin traced by Quote Investigator, “For Attractive Lips, Speak Words of Kindness” (8 July 2013).

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry’?” Last verified 14 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/for-attractive-lips-speak-words-of-kindness-for-lovely-eyes

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