Diane Keaton displays self-knowledge in 'LHJ' cover

Maybe it was always the case, but it seems as if actress Diane Keaton displays ever keener self-knowledge as she ages gently into her seventh decade — and she's still a cover lady.

Keaton, 66, landed the November cover of Ladies' Home Journal, on newsstands Oct. 9. In the interview inside, she talks about how she sees herself, her track record with men (including her leading men), her fashion choices, and being an older mom, all in her signature amusing voice.

"I see myself as an oddball," she confides to writer Janice Kaplan. Famous for her romances with such stars as Warren Beatty, Woody Allen and Al Pacino, Keaton says these relationships didn't work out because she was not the right kind of woman for them.

"Managerial skills are necessary to handle men like that and I'm not the manager type," she says. "I also don't think I have a lot of nurturing skills. I needed as much as they needed and that's not a good mix."

Not that she wasn't swept away occasionally. "I remember the first time I saw Warren Beatty. It was in Splendor in the Grass and I thought 'Oh my God. Who is this?' He was very sexy, but a different kind of sexy. I mean, we're talking pretty. Like Justin Bieber pretty. So I had unrealistic standards."

That's got to be a new one: Warren Beatty compared to Justin Bieber.

These days Keaton doesn't see herself dating anymore. "I don't know of anyone. Because I just see trouble. I go,'Hmmm, do I want that trouble?' "

Famous also for her quirky fashion, Keaton says her choices are based on covering up flaws. Whatever people think, she thinks she's been smart about her clothes. "I have confidence in my choices."

She's acquired more insight into parenthood, and no longer feels contempt for people, like her, who adopt at a late age. "My life went a certain way and suddenly I was 50 with no purpose and I wanted a family. In some ways my children are lucky because I'm much less self-involved now. But they know they have this older parent, and that must be odd for them."

Keaton is full of good advice: "When you get to a certain age, you shouldn't wear strapless gowns where everything is exposed because you look ridiculous." So true. And she tells women, don't give up on yourself.

"So you make a mistake here and there, you do too much or you do too little. Just have fun. Smile. And keep putting on lipstick."