Bette Davis Quotes

I'd like to kiss ya, but I just washed my hair.

There comes a time in every woman's life when the only thing that helps is a glass of champagne.

[joan crawford] slept with every male star at MGM, except lassie.

[joan crawford] ha dormito con ogni star maschile della MGM, eccetto lassie.

Pleasure of love lasts but a moment, Pain of love lasts a lifetime.

Brought up to respect the conventions, love had to end in marriage. I'm afraid it did.

Miss Bankhead isn't well enough known nationally to warrant my imitating her. (In response to accusations she imitated Bankhead in the role of Margo Channing in All about Eve. Bankhead resented Davis for the perceived imitation, which she considered mocking, and for portraying her Broadway Roles on film [Dark Victory, Jezebel, The Little Foxes]. This comment is unusual in that Davis usually tried to deflate the myth [started by Tallulah for amusement and publicity] of any sort of conflict between them, instead expressing her admiration for Bankhead. Similarly, when Bankhead was asked to do an imitation of Davis, she said "Why should I dahling, she's been imitating me long enough". Before candidly remarking "But really, it's been sheer coincidence that Bette's been playing the leading roles in films like Dark Victory. I really admire her very much.")

Men become much more attractive when they start looking older. But it doesn't do much for women, though we do have an advantage: make-up.

This became a credo of mine...attempt the impossible in order to improve your work.

I never wished I’d been a man. I always felt like a woman and wanted to be a woman. I wanted to be fulfilled professionally and personally, as a woman. There are some who might say I had penis envy, but I only had penis admiration.

My energies knew no bounds and I became more and more interested in civic causes, the first of which was The Tailwaggers. It was an organization that cared for abandoned and lost dogs. Its English progenitor had been started by the Duke of Windsor — now married to the lady at King’s Bench. A lifelong dog lover, I became president of the group and during my tenure of office we trained dogs for the blind. The work became infinitely satisfying and accomplished a twofold purpose. In order to raise money,

"Funny business, a woman's career. The things you drop on your way up the ladder — so you can move faster — you forget you'll need them when you go back to being a woman. That's one career all females have in common whether we like it or not. Being a woman. Sooner or later, we've got to work at it, no matter what other careers we've had or wanted. And in the last analysis nothing is any good unless you can look up just before dinner — or turn around in bed — and there he is. Without that you're not a woman. You're someone with a French provincial office — or a book full of clippings. But you're not a woman. Slow curtain. The end. (from "All About Eve")"

Thirty-five is the age for a woman, in my opinion. Oh — to stay thirty-five forever.

You know what nostalgia is, don’t you? It’s basically a matter of recalling the fun without reliving the pain.

Old age is no place for sissies!

May each of my grandsons know, at an early age, what his life's ambition is -- and may he be successful in his pursuit of that goal.