Lauren Bacall Quotes: Words of Wisdom from the Iconic Actress
Lauren Bacall, born Betty Joan Perske in 1924, was an iconic American actress known for her smoky voice, sultry looks, and magnetic screen presence. Bacall was not only an accomplished actress but also a sharp-witted woman with a knack for delivering pithy one-liners that often served as words of wisdom. In this article, we will explore some of Lauren Bacall’s most memorable quotes and delve into the insights and inspiration they offer.
“You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.”
This quote from Bacall’s breakthrough film “To Have and Have Not” (1944) has become one of the most famous lines in movie history. It’s a seductive invitation to the male lead, played by Humphrey Bogart, and it’s delivered with a cool confidence that became one of Bacall’s trademarks. But beyond its flirtatious connotations, this quote is also a testament to the power of simplicity. Bacall’s character, Marie “Slim” Browning, doesn’t need a long-winded pickup line to catch Bogart’s attention. All she needs is a whistle, and she knows exactly how to deliver it.
“Imagination is the highest kite that one can fly.”
This quote captures Bacall’s creative spirit and her belief in the importance of imagination. Bacall was not only an actress but also a writer, and she wrote two autobiographies that showcase her vivid imagination and her talent for storytelling. In this quote, she encourages us to reach for the highest kite that we can fly, to tap into our creative potential, and to let our imaginations soar.
“I put my career in second place throughout both my marriages and it suffered. I don’t regret it. You make choices. If you want a good marriage, you must pay attention to that. If you want to be independent, go ahead. You can’t have it all.”
This quote is a reflection of Bacall’s personal life and the choices she made regarding her career and relationships. It speaks to the challenges faced by many women in balancing work and family responsibilities, and the difficult decisions that must be made along the way. Bacall’s words offer a reminder that we must prioritize what matters most to us and that it’s impossible to have everything we want.
“I am not a has-been. I am a will be.”
Bacall’s determination and resilience are evident in this quote, which emphasizes her focus on the future rather than dwelling on the past. She rejects the notion that she is a “has-been,” someone who has already had their moment of fame and relevance, and instead embraces the idea that she is a “will be,” someone who is still moving forward and creating new opportunities for herself.
“I think your whole life shows in your face, and you should be proud of that.”
Bacall’s beauty was more than skin deep, and this quote reflects her belief that our inner lives are reflected in our outer appearance. She encourages us to be proud of the experiences and emotions that shape us and to wear them with confidence and authenticity.
“I am not a doormat. But if the door needs wiping, I’ll wipe it.”
This quote showcases Bacall’s no-nonsense attitude and her willingness to do whatever needs to be done. She asserts her independence and strength while also acknowledging that sometimes, even strong people need to humble themselves and do the dirty work.
“I am never bored anywhere: being bored is an insult to oneself.”
Bacall was known for her wit and her sharp mind, and this quote illustrates her disdain for boredom and her insistence on staying engaged and interested in the world around her. She suggests that boredom is not only unproductive but also disrespectful to oneself, a waste of the precious time we have on earth.
“I think that’s the phenomenon of our time is that a lot of women keep themselves in good shape but that there’s not a lot of accommodation or people out there to connect with and the technology.”
This quote from Bacall addresses the challenges faced by women in the modern world, particularly in regards to technology and social connection. She acknowledges the importance of physical fitness and self-care but also notes the limitations of technology in fostering real human connection.
“I’m not a movie star. I’m an actress.”
This quote reflects Bacall’s pride in her craft and her belief in the importance of acting as an art form. She rejects the notion that her career was merely a product of her looks or her star power and emphasizes the skill and talent required to be a successful actress.
“I’m for decency — period. I’m for anything and everything that bodes love and consideration for my fellow man.”
Bacall’s commitment to decency and kindness is evident in this quote, which emphasizes her belief in treating others with respect and compassion. She rejects any form of hatred or bigotry and promotes love and consideration for all.
“I hate small talk. I want to talk about atoms, death, aliens, sex, magic, intellect, the meaning of life, faraway galaxies, music that makes you feel different, memories, the lies people tell, emotions, the vastness of the universe, and evolution.”
This quote showcases Bacall’s love for deep conversation and her disdain for small talk. She encourages us to engage in discussions that challenge and inspire us, touching on topics from the profound to the whimsical. Bacall was known for her intellectual curiosity and this quote reflects her desire to connect with others on a deeper level.
“I am not a has-been. I am a will be.”
Bacall’s determination and resilience are evident in this quote, which emphasizes her focus on the future rather than dwelling on the past. She rejects the notion that she is a “has-been,” someone who has already had their moment of fame and relevance, and instead embraces the idea that she is a “will be,” someone who is still moving forward and creating new opportunities for herself.
“I put my career in second place throughout both my marriages and it suffered. I don’t regret it. You make choices. If you want a good marriage, you must pay attention to that. If you want to be independent, go ahead. You can’t have it all.”
This quote is a reflection of Bacall’s personal life and the choices she made regarding her career and relationships. It speaks to the challenges faced by many women in balancing work and family responsibilities, and the difficult decisions that must be made along the way. Bacall’s words offer a reminder that we must prioritize what matters most to us and that it’s impossible to have everything we want.
“I think your whole life shows in your face, and you should be proud of that.”
Bacall’s beauty was more than skin deep, and this quote reflects her belief that our inner lives are reflected in our outer appearance. She encourages us to be proud of the experiences and emotions that shape us and to wear them with confidence and authenticity.
“I am not a doormat. But if the door needs wiping, I’ll wipe it.”
This quote showcases Bacall’s no-nonsense attitude and her willingness to do whatever needs to be done. She asserts her independence and strength while also acknowledging that sometimes, even strong people need to humble themselves and do the dirty work.
“I am never bored anywhere: being bored is an insult to oneself.”
Bacall was known for her wit and her sharp mind, and this quote illustrates her disdain for boredom and her insistence on staying engaged and interested in the world around her. She suggests that boredom is not only unproductive but also disrespectful to oneself, a waste of the precious time we have on earth.
“I think that’s the phenomenon of our time is that a lot of women keep themselves in good shape but that there’s not a lot of accommodation or people out there to connect with and the technology.”
This quote from Bacall addresses the challenges faced by women in the modern world, particularly in regards to technology and social connection. She acknowledges the importance of physical fitness and self-care but also notes the limitations of technology in fostering real human connection.
“I’m not a movie star. I’m an actress.”
This quote reflects Bacall’s pride in her craft and her belief in the importance of acting as an art form. She rejects the notion that her career was merely a product of her looks or her star power and emphasizes the skill and talent required to be a successful actress.
“I’m for decency — period. I’m for anything and everything that bodes love and consideration for my fellow man.”
Bacall’s commitment to decency and kindness is evident in this quote, which emphasizes her belief in treating others with respect and compassion. She rejects any form of hatred or bigotry and promotes love and consideration for all.
“I hate small talk. I want to talk about atoms, death, aliens, sex, magic, intellect, the meaning of life, faraway galaxies, music that makes you feel different, memories, the lies people tell, emotions, the vastness of the universe, and evolution.”
This quote showcases Bacall’s love for deep and meaningful conversations. She expresses her dislike for small talk and instead desires to explore complex and thought-provoking topics such as the mysteries of the universe, the human experience, and the nature of reality.
“I believe in living in the present and making each day count. I don’t pay much attention to the past or the future.”
Bacall’s philosophy on life is encapsulated in this quote, which emphasizes the importance of living in the moment and making the most of every day. She rejects dwelling on the past or worrying about the future and instead encourages us to focus on the present moment and appreciate the beauty of life as it unfolds.
“I think your whole life is a series of mental snapshots.”
Bacall’s perspective on life is reflected in this quote, which suggests that our memories are like snapshots that capture the essence of our experiences. She encourages us to cherish these mental snapshots and use them to reflect on the moments that make life worth living.
“The only thing you owe the public is a good performance.”
Bacall’s approach to fame and celebrity is summarized in this quote, which suggests that the most important thing is to deliver quality work to the audience. She rejects the idea that celebrities owe the public anything beyond their artistic talent and encourages us to focus on the work itself rather than the hype surrounding it.
“You learn to rise above a lot of bad things that happen in your life. And you have to keep going.”
Bacall’s resilience and strength are evident in this quote, which acknowledges the challenges and hardships that life can bring but emphasizes the importance of perseverance and resilience. She encourages us to rise above adversity and keep moving forward, even when the road is difficult.
“I always had the feeling in Hollywood that I was like a brown wren in a sea of flamingos.”
This quote reflects Bacall’s sense of otherness in the world of Hollywood and her feeling of being an outsider among the glamorous and flamboyant stars. She acknowledges her own unique qualities and perspectives and celebrates them even in the midst of a culture that values conformity.
Lauren Bacall was a true icon, known for her beauty, talent, and wit. Her words offer us a glimpse into her unique perspective on life and inspire us to embrace our own individuality and resilience. Whether she was discussing the challenges of balancing work and family or the mysteries of the universe, Bacall always brought her intelligence, humor, and wisdom to the table. Her legacy lives on as a testament to the power of individuality, creativity, and perseverance.
Phrases
-You don’t always win your battles, but it’s good to know you fought.
-Imagination is the highest kite one can fly.
-Standing still is the fastest way of moving backwards in a rapidly changing world.
-Life is amazing, life is odd. Life is not what you expected it to be. Things happen… Growing up takes longer than you think.
-I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be proud of that.
-One thing I am convinced of is that the more you do, the more you can do.
-I am not a has-been. I am a will-be.
-You spend a good part of your adult life acquiring things: building a home, filling it with objects that please your eye and make you feel comfortable. Then you spend the last part of your life trying to figure out how to get rid of it all.
-If goodness is its own reward, shouldn’t we get a little something for being naughty?
-Yes, I saw Twilight – my granddaughter made me watch it, she said it was the greatest vampire film ever. After the ‘film’ was over I wanted to smack her across her head with my shoe, but I do not want a (tell-all) book called Grannie Dearest written on me when I die. So instead I gave her a DVD of Murnau’s 1922 masterpiece Nosferatu and told her, ‘Now that’s a vampire film!’ And that goes for all of you! Watch Nosferatu instead!
-In the world of relationships, possibly the most complicated, uncommon, hard to find, hard to keep and most rewarding has got to be friendship.
-You learn to cope with whatever you have to cope with. I spent my childhood in New York, riding on subways and buses. And you know what you learn if you’re a New Yorker? The world doesn’t owe you a damn thing.
-Being a liberal is the best thing on earth you can be. You are welcoming to everyone when you’re a liberal. You do not have a small mind.
-The reason you get married is to be together, not to be separated.
-Growing up takes longer than you think.
-Very few people want to hear the truth. Bogie was like that, my mother was like that, and I’m like that. I believe in the truth, and I believe in saying what you think. Why not? Do you have to go around whispering all the time or playing a game with people? I just don’t believe in that. So I’m not the most adored person on the face of the earth.
-It’s not an old movie if you haven’t seen it.
-The best things in life are clean living, good works, and big saphires. And not in that order.
-How in hell can you handle love without turning your life upside down? That’s what love does, it changes everything.
-Legends are all to do with the past and nothing to do with the present.
-No one has ever written a romance better than we lived it.
-A woman isn’t complete without a man. But where do you find a man – a real man – these days?
-Find me a man who’s interesting enough to have dinner with and I’ll be happy.
-Stardom isn’t a profession, it’s an accident.
-I wish Frank Sinatra would just shut up and sing.
-Life is not what you expected it to be.
-I am not a wealthy woman. I wish to hell I was, but I never had a wealthy man.
-If there was one thing I had never been, it was mysterious, and if there was one thing I had never done, it was not talk.
-Isn’t hope an incredible, a wonderfully demented thing?
Everything in this country [the US] has got to be good looks and unlined faces and thin bodies and people running around in skirts slit up to their ass. It has nothing to do with thinking or with being a human being. There is life in mature people; it’s not all over at 24½.
-There are guys who want to screw around all the time, which interests me not at all. God knows we’ve done that, been there, and we don’t want to do that any more.
-The times in which we’re currently living unfortunately, our great leader [George W. Bush] is such a disaster and the entire country is in disastrous shape because of him. It’s very frightening, actually, to think that this country has become what it’s become and that so many people voted for a man like that. It’s terrifying.
-A man’s illness is his private territory and, no matter how much he loves you and how close you are, you stay an outsider. You are healthy.
-I figure if I have my health, can pay the rent and I have my friends, I call it ‘content.’
-I’ve always felt that work – learning from people who know more than I know – is what keeps you going.
-I hope I’m thought of as not just a showbiz personality, but as someone who has lived a life and who has hopefully made a contribution to something along the way – someone who is a human being as well as an actress.
-You can’t always be a leading lady.
-We live in an age of mediocrity. Stars today are not the same stature as Bogie [Humphrey Bogart], James Cagney, Spencer Tracy, Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart [James Stewart].
-You can’t start worrying about what’s going to happen. You get spastic enough worrying about what’s happening now.
-Looking at yourself in a mirror isn’t exactly a study of life.
-I am essentially a loner.
-A planned life is a dead life.
-I remember my oldest son, Steve, saying to me once, ‘I don’t ever remember seeing you with an apron on.’ And I thought, that’s right, honey, you did not. That was his concept of what a mother should be.
-Generally women are better than men — they have more character. I prefer men for some things, obviously, but women have a greater sense of honor and are more willing to take a chance with their lives.
-The industry is s**t, it’s the medium that’s great.
-As long as I can walk and talk, I’ll try almost anything. I say “almost” because the high wire is definitely out.
-No, I don’t like legend. I mean, I don’t like the category. And to begin with, to me, a legend is something that is not on the Earth, that is dead
-The biggest misconception people have about me is that I’m in control of every situation. I’m rarely in control of any situation.
-Remember what Bogie and my mother both used to say: ‘Character is the most important thing. All that matters is character!’
-I’m crazy enough to believe in taking chances in every way, in making choices and gambling with your life. That’s the kind of gambling I believe in.
-They think actors are freaks – that we’re a lot of drunks who party all the time and never work. Well, I for one work my tail off.
-My mother was the greatest example to me of anyone I’ve ever known. She didn’t have an easy life. I adored her. She worked hard all her life, and she was the one who set my values. She was quite an amazing woman, although she wasn’t tough at all.
-I always thought I had crooked eyebrows and crooked teeth. That’s why I never understood why people called me a beauty.
-How many women do we know who were continually kissed by Clark Gable, William Powell, Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy and Fredric March? Only one: Myrna Loy…
-[Katharine Hepburn] was much stronger, much more opinionated than I am or ever was, and it was considered attractive on her. But not on me. I don’t know. Maybe her Bryn Mawr accent was more appealing than mine.
-When everything happens to you when you’re so young, you’re very lucky, but by the same token, you’re never going to have that same feeling again. The first time anything happens to you – your first love, your first success – the second one is never the same.
-How long an actress lives professionally depends on her stamina, the extent of her masochism, her imagination, and her yearning for recognition or approval.
-When a woman reaches twenty-six in America, she’s on the slide. It’s downhill all the way from then on. It doesn’t give you a tremendous feeling of confidence and well-being.
-I find that through the sad times, work is what made my continuing, not breaking down, possible. In work, I was always someone else and I subconsciously reveled in that.
-God if the press ever quoted anyone correctly it would be brilliant.
-It’s inappropriate and vulgar and absolutely unacceptable to use your private life to sell anything commercially, but I think it’s kind of a sickness.
-Howard Hawks said he’d like to put me in a film with Cary Grant or Humphrey Bogart. I thought, “Cary Grant-terrific! Humphrey Bogart-yucch.”
-In Hollywood, an equitable divorce settlement means each party getting fifty percent of publicity.
-You realize yourself when you start reflecting – because I don’t live in the past, although your past is so much a part of what you are – that you can’t ignore it. But I don’t look at scrapbooks.
-I’m a total Democrat. I’m anti-Republican. And it’s only fair that you know it… I’m liberal. The L word!
-I’m total, total, total liberal and proud of it.
-I’m not a sedentary person. I’ve always been active.
-No, I’m afraid they might slip and hit a nerve and I’d end up with one side of my face hanging down or something. I’ll just stick with this one for a while and take my chances. I’ll be brave.
-Men need to feel important. They feel better when they’re with younger girls or unknown girls.
-Young people, even in Hollywood, ask me, ‘Were you really married to Humphrey Bogart?’ ‘Well, yes, I think I was,’ I reply.
-I always brought up my children not to believe in Mothers Day gifts, and now I regret it.
-People should tell your children what life is all about – it’s about work.
-Each time a friend dies, the present becomes the past, in an instant.
-I called my business manager in California and said, ‘Sell all of my stock’ – what little of it I had – and it’s the only smart financial move I ever made.
-Patience was not my strong point.
-I would hate now to be married. It does occur to me on occasion that, if I fall and hit my head, there will be no one to make the phone call. But who wants to think about that disaster, I’d prefer not to.
-I put my career in second place throughout both my marriages and it suffered. I don’t regret it. You make choices. If you want a good marriage, you must pay attention to that. If you want to be independent, go ahead. You can’t have it all.
-The purity of Jewish upbringing – the restrictions that one carries through life being a ‘nice Jewish girl’ – what a burden.
-I used to tremble from nerves so badly that the only way I could hold my head steady was to lower my chin practically to my chest and look up at Bogie. That was the beginning of The Look.
-When you talk about a great actor, you’re not talking about Tom Cruise. His whole behavior is so shocking.
-Most women use more brains picking a horse in the third at Belmont than they do picking a husband
-If you want me just whistle. You know how to whistle don’t you? Just put your lips together and blow.
-Acting is a life of rejection.
-Actors today go into TV, which I don’t consider has a lot to do with acting. They only think of stardom
-Naïveté, thy name is me.
