Bette Davis

Bette Davis

26 quotes

Known primarily as an American actress, Bette Davis also happens to be one of the most quotable figures in our collection. Known for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, although her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas, their words carry the weight of lived experience. Our collection holds 37 quotes from Bette Davis, each offering a different angle on Work, Women, Marriage, Movies, and Men. Consider this gem from Bette Davis: "Brought up to respect the conventions, love had to end in marriage. I'm afraid it did."

“An affair now and then is good for a marriage. It adds spice, stops it from getting boring... I ought to know.”

— Bette Davis

Marriage

All Quotes by Bette Davis

“An affair now and then is good for a marriage. It adds spice, stops it from getting boring... I ought to know.”

— Bette Davis

Marriage

“I work to stay alive.”

— Bette Davis

Work

“In this business, until you're known as a monster you're not a star.”

— Bette Davis

Business

“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

Best

“Sex is God's joke on human beings.”

— Bette Davis

God

“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.”

— Bette Davis

Men

“To fulfill a dream, to be allowed to sweat over lonely labor, to be given a chance to create, is the meat and potatoes of life. The money is the gravy.”

— Bette Davis

Money

“I've always liked men better than women.”

— Bette Davis

Women

“Old age is no place for sissies.”

— Bette Davis

Age

“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.”

— Bette Davis

Home

“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

Truth

“I'd luv to kiss ya, but I just washed my hair.”

— Bette Davis

Funny

“A sure way to lose happiness, I found, is to want it at the expense of everything else.”

— Bette Davis

Happiness

“I went back to work because someone had to pay for the groceries.”

— Bette Davis

Work

“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.”

— Bette Davis

Business

“This has always been a motto of mine: Attempt the impossible in order to improve your work.”

— Bette Davis

Work

“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

Success

“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

Marriage

“I don't take the movies seriously, and anyone who does is in for a headache.”

— Bette Davis

Movies

“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.”

— Bette Davis

Famous