"Quotes by Bette Davis" offers a captivating glimpse into the world of one of Hollywood's most iconic and enigmatic actresses. Bette Davis, known for her legendary career spanning over six decades, left an indelible mark on the film industry with her talent, charisma, and unforgettable performances. Beyond her on-screen excellence, Davis was also known for her wit, wisdom, and candid personality, which is reflected in the timeless quotes attributed to her.
In this exploration of "Quotes by Bette Davis," we delve into the words and phrases that reveal the essence of this remarkable actress and the era of classic Hollywood that she so brilliantly inhabited. These quotes not only provide insight into her thoughts on life, love, and the entertainment industry but also serve as a source of inspiration and reflection for those who admire her work and legacy.
Quotes By Bette Davis (2024)
Explore the wisdom, wit, and timeless charisma of the legendary actress Bette Davis through this curated collection of related and unique quotes. Bette Davis, with her extraordinary talent and iconic presence, not only graced the silver screen but also left a lasting legacy of memorable words and phrases. These quotes reflect her candid personality, deep insights, and unwavering dedication to her craft.
"I'd luv to kiss ya, but I just washed my hair." - Bette Davis
"I survived because I was tougher than anybody else." - Bette Davis
"Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night." - Bette Davis
"I am doomed to an eternity of compulsive work. No set goal achieved satisfies. Success only breeds a new goal. The golden apple devoured has seeds. It is endless." - Bette Davis
"Old age is no place for sissies." - Bette Davis
"There comes a time in every woman's life when the only thing that helps is a glass of champagne." - Bette Davis
"You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good… Joan Crawford is dead. Good." - Bette Davis
"I don't take the movies seriously, and anyone who does is in for a headache." - Bette Davis
"I'd marry again if I found a man who had 15 million dollars, would sign over half to me, and guarantee that he'd be dead within a year." - Bette Davis
"I don't care what you did in the war; you're a swine!" - Bette Davis
"It's better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for what you're not." - Bette Davis
"I was thought to be 'stuck up.' I wasn't. I was just sure of myself. This is and always has been an unforgivable quality to the unsure." - Bette Davis
"Love is not enough. It must be the foundation, the cornerstone—but not the complete structure. It is much too pliable, too yielding." - Bette Davis
"If everybody likes you, you're pretty dull." - Bette Davis
"I will never be below the title." - Bette Davis
"When a man gives his opinion, he's a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she's a bitch." - Bette Davis
"The best time I ever had with Joan Crawford was when I pushed her down the stairs in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" - Bette Davis
"I was never affected by alcohol. I've never taken drugs, but I can't stand people who do, who let themselves get weak." - Bette Davis
"I'd like to be able to like my stepchildren, but I don't." - Bette Davis
"Why am I so good at playing bitches? I think it's because I'm not a bitch. Maybe that's why Miss Crawford always plays ladies." - Bette Davis
"There's nothing more in this world that I despise than a liar." - Bette Davis
"I don't care what the critics say. My fabulous Chanel hat got more publicity than any of their poor little gowns." - Bette Davis
"You know, that's the trouble with people today. They always want to know how things end up. Everything's got to have a resolution; everything's got to be wrapped up so it's easy to understand. But you see, Miss Farrow, life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale of all." - Bette Davis
"I have been uncompromising, peppery, intractable, monomaniacal, tactless, volatile, and oftentimes disagreeable… I suppose I'm larger than life." - Bette Davis
"The weak are the most treacherous of us all. They come to the strong and drain them. They are bottomless. They are insatiable. They are always parched. They are always starving. They are the eternal Vampires." - Bette Davis
"Oh, I could do so many wonderful things if I didn't have to lie and cheat and steal and kill." - Bette Davis
"My passions were all gathered together like fingers that made a fist. Drive is considered aggression today; I knew it then as purpose." - Bette Davis
"I don't want to be remembered as the woman who gave birth to kittens." - Bette Davis
"I was never a 'star' but a 'working actor,' a good one, I believe. I had one golden decade in the forties." - Bette Davis
"Hollywood has been resting on its laurels for a decade. It is time to take stock and to make a true American film." - Bette Davis
"The key to life is accepting challenges. Once someone stops doing this, he's dead." - Bette Davis
"I don't care how rich and successful a man is. If he doesn't have a woman to love him and take care of him, he is just a lonely man." - Bette Davis
"If you've never been hated by your child, you've never been a parent." - Bette Davis
"There's nothing nicer than someone who has failed coming up to you after a play and saying, 'Boy, that was great, it turned out better than I thought.'" - Bette Davis
"I will not retire while I've still got my legs and my make-up box." - Bette Davis
"My life was a series of accidents, planned accidents." - Bette Davis
"Success only breeds a new goal." - Bette Davis
"I'd rather be strongly wrong than weakly right." - Bette Davis
"I think it's so foolish for people to want to be happy. Happy is so momentary—you're happy for an instant and then you start thinking again. Interest is the most important thing in life; happiness is temporary, but interest is continuous." - Bette Davis
"I will not retire while I've still got my legs and my make-up box." - Bette Davis
"There are new words now that excuse everybody. Give me the good old days of heroes and villains; the people you can bravo or hiss. There was a truth to them that all the slick credulity of today cannot touch." - Bette Davis
"If you want a thing well done, get a couple of old broads to do it." - Bette Davis
"I'd marry again if I found a man who had fifteen million dollars, would sign over half to me, and guarantee that he'd be dead within a year." - Bette Davis
"Without wonder and insight, acting is just a trade. With it, it becomes creation." - Bette Davis
"I'd luv to kiss ya, but I just washed my hair."
"I will not retire while I've still got my legs and my makeup box."
"Brought up to respect the conventions, love had to end in marriage. I'm afraid it did."
"I am doomed to an eternity of compulsive work. No set goal achieved satisfies. Success only breeds a new goal. The golden apple devoured has seeds. It is endless."
"Hollywood always wanted me to be pretty, but I fought for realism."
"I'd marry again if I found a man who had fifteen million dollars, would sign over half to me, and guarantee that he'd be dead within a year."
"Why am I so good at playing bitches? I think it's because I'm not a bitch. Maybe that's why Miss Crawford always plays ladies."
"I don't take the movies seriously, and anyone who does is in for a headache."
"I'm the nicest goddamn dame that ever lived."
"It's better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for who you are not."
"I was thought to be 'stuck up.' I wasn't. I was just sure of myself. This is and always has been an unforgivable quality to the unsure."
"When a man gives his opinion, he's a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she's a bitch."
"Old age ain't no place for sissies."
"I've always tried to go a step past wherever people expected me to end up."
"In this business, until you're known as a monster, you're not a star."
"I survived because I was tougher than anybody else."
"If everyone likes you, you're pretty dull."
"I am a woman meant for a man, but I never found a man who could compete."
"I was never very interested in boys—and there were plenty of them—vying with one another to see how many famous women they would get into the hay."
"The best time I ever had with Joan Crawford was when I pushed her down the stairs in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?"
"I would advise any woman against having an affair with a married man believing he will ever leave his wife, no matter how often he says his wife does not understand him. Love is not as necessary to a man's happiness as it is to a woman's. If her marriage is satisfactory, a woman will seldom stray. A man can be totally contented and still be out howling at the moon."
"From the moment I was six, I felt sexy. And let me tell you, it was hell, sheer hell, waiting to do something about it."
"Basically, I believe the world is a jungle, and if it's not a bit of a jungle in the home, a child cannot possibly be fit to enter the outside world."
"If you've never been hated by your child, you've never been a parent."
"There's nothing you can do about it; we are who we are, and you can't change it."
"There's nothing you can do about it; we are who we are, and you can't change it."
"I don't want to retire. I'm not ready for it yet."
"I'd marry again if I could find a man who had 15 million dollars and would sign over half of it to me before the marriage and guarantee he'd be dead in a year."
"I don't think you become a star until you can handle your insecurities."
"I have been uncompromising, peppery, intractable, monomaniacal, tactless, volatile, and oftentimes disagreeable… I suppose I'm larger than life."
"I don't have a marquee name. I don't have Bette Davis eyes. I don't have a big bust. But I've created something for myself."
"I was born in a goddamn manger!"
"I do not regret one professional enemy I have made. Any actor who doesn't dare to make an enemy should get out of the business."
"The best time to make friends is before you need them."
"I don't want anyone ever to ever take credit for anything they didn't do. I want what I deserve, and I want anybody who wanted me to get me."
"I am not a has-been. I am a will be."
"I was never afraid of failure; for I would sooner fail than not be among the greatest."
"I will never be below the title."
"A sure way to lose happiness, I found, is to want it at the expense of everything else."
"Everybody has a heart. Except some people."
"I can't imagine losing to myself."
"The only way to enjoy anything in this life is to earn it first."
"I've always been driven by my own nature."
"I've always been terrified of living in one place."
"I was in Hollywood during the '30s and '40s. There was a lot of work. There was a lot of excitement. There was a lot of glamour. You were very much aware of MGM and Fox all over the lot. You had a feeling of excitement. There was work going on. You had the feeling that this was the greatest place to be in the whole wide world."
"I think that the best thing I have done is My Mother's Keeper."
"I wish they would install seat belts in theaters so that the laughing audience could hold onto something when something funny was said."
"I'm the one who didn't die."
"I am just too much."
"I'm just me, and that's all I want to be."
"I was born in a goddamn manger!"
"I do not regret one professional enemy I have made. Any actor who doesn't dare to make an enemy should get out of the business."
"The best time to make friends is before you need them."
"I don't want anyone ever to ever take credit for anything they didn't do. I want what I deserve, and I want anybody who wanted me to get me."
"It's better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for someone you're not."
The remarkable legacy of Bette Davis extends far beyond her captivating performances on the silver screen. These "Quotes By Bette Davis" provide a window into the fierce, unapologetic, and brilliantly talented woman who became an enduring symbol of Hollywood's golden era. As we reflect on these quotes, we are reminded of the indomitable spirit of a woman who refused to be confined by convention. Bette Davis once said, "I'm just me, and that's all I want to be." Through her words and her work, she inspired generations to embrace their authentic selves and pursue their passions without compromise.
