Famous Lives, Forgotten Lines | Princess Leia Is the Best Writer in the Galaxy
You know her for her buns. For blasting her way into a garbage chute. For the gilded bikini she wore as she strangled a slug. For commanding the force to fly through space. And for becoming the intergalactic princess and general who led the fall of the Empire and the rise of the Resistance. But only hardcore Star Wars fans will recognize Princess Leia Organa for her quick and sly wit both on and off-screen.
Carrie Fisher first donned the character of Princess Leia in George Lucas’s culture-shifting 1977 film, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and she continued to embrace that illustrious role until her tragic passing in 2016. But it was impossible to distinguish which parts of Leia were Carrie and which parts of Carrie were Leia. They simply were two indomitable forces who merged into one. Carrie herself even said, “I am Princess Leia, no matter what… Princess Leia will be on my tombstone.”
It is understandable why Carrie is more so acknowledged for her words as an actress rather than as an author. But just as Princess Leia could wield a blaster and intellect with calculated ease, Carrie Fisher too could hold her own when it came to captivating readers with stories of her own daunting life experiences. She wrote seven bestselling books peppered with intimate details about her addiction, bipolar disorder, manic depression, shock therapy, and divorce experiences as a single mother with a heartbreakingly humorous and honest voice that entertained and enthralled.
In her final book, The Princess Diarist, Carrie Fisher revealed writings from her private journal that she kept as a 19-year-old while filming the first Star Wars in London and having a secret three-month affair with Harrison Ford, her 33-year-old married costar. She also offered insight into what becoming Princess Leia was like, but the candid and poignant writings of the young and vulnerable 19-year-old Carrie Fisher were what crowned her as the best writer in the galaxy.
The quotes below were written by Carrie Fisher when she first became Princess Leia but were not published until the final time she ever got to wear that title. In the decades to come, Carrie embarked upon a new career as a writer revered for her signature snappy wit, hysterical wisdom, and unforgettably charming voice.
“Heaven’s no place for one who thrives on hell”
“I’ve got to learn something from my mistakes instead of establishing a new record to break.”
“I tried to read between your lines as you would so rarely speak
But I gave you far more credit than you were actually due
You see I thought I was only seeing half the man
But that was all there was to you”
“I am always disappointed with someone who loves me—how perfect can he be if he can’t see through me?”
“I must be who I am and people adjust to it.”