Bette Davis Quotes

April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989

Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress of film, television and theatre. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres; from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, though her greatest successes were romantic dramas. In 1999, Davis was placed second, behind Katharine Hepburn, on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female stars of all time.

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Her instinct, her mastery over the machine, was pure witchcraft. I cannot analyze this woman's acting. I only know that no one else so effectively worked in front of a camera.

In The Lonely Life: An Autobiography? (1962, p. 116)

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More Bette Davis Quotes

To look back is to relax one's vigil.

Bette Davis
— The Lonely Life (1962)

Tags: look, relax, vigil

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'In the beginning was the Word,' and you must not be tempted with a script just because you have a great part. You want a great role to play, but the whole - the whole - must be good. It'll never succeed if it's just the role you like.

Bette Davis
— Louise Sweeney (December 28, 1987) "Bette Davis: On the heels of a new honor and a new film, a screen legend looks back over her 60-year career", Christian Science Monitor, p. 19.

Tags: beginning, you, tempted, script, great, want, role, play, whole

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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.

Bette Davis
— Cathy Collison (November 16, 1983) "Savitch Remembered Crim In Will", Detroit Free Press, p. 14D.

Tags: May, grandsons, know, early, age, what, ambition, successful, pursuit

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Miss Bankhead isn't well enough known nationally to warrant my imitating her.

Bette Davis
— Colin Jarman, The Book of Poisonous Quotes, McGraw-Hill Professional, 1993, ISBN 0809236818, p. 130.

Tags: Miss, Bankhead, enough, known, nationally, warrant, imitating

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

Bette Davis
— Ashton Applewhite, Tripp Evans, Andrew Frothingham, And I Quote: The Definitive Collection of Quotes, Sayings, and Jokes for the Contemporary Speechmaker, Macmillan, 1992, ISBN 0312068972, p. 383.

Tags: respect, conventions, love, end, marriage, afraid

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Discipline is a symbol of caring to a child. Discipline is guidance. If there is love, there is no such thing as being too tough with a child.

Bette Davis
— Noah BenShea, Great Quotes to Inspire Great Teachers, Corwin Press, 2001, ISBN 0761945407, p. 78.

Tags: Discipline, symbol, caring, child, guidance, there, love, thing, tough

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Attempt the impossible in order to improve your work.

Bette Davis
— Wendy Toliver, The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Inspirational Quotes, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2005, ISBN 140271159X, p. 123.

Tags: Attempt, impossible, order, improve, work

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Old age ain't no place for sissies.

Bette Davis
— Roz Warren, Rosalind Warren, Women's Lip: Outrageous, Irreverent and Just Plain Hilarious Quotes, Sourcebooks, Inc., 2006, ISBN 1402203918, p. 179.

Tags: Old, age, place, sissies

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You will never be happier than you expect. To change your happiness, change your expectation.

Bette Davis
— Gerhard Gschwandtner, Great Thoughts to Sell By: Quotes to Motivate You to Success, McGraw-Hill Professional, 2007, ISBN 0071475990, p. 89.

Tags: You, never, happier, expect, change, expectation

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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
— Lorraine A. Darconte, Pride Matters: Quotes to Inspire Your Personal Best, Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2001, ISBN 0740718835, p. 56.

Tags: passions, gathered, together, fingers, fist, Drive, aggression, today, knew

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The key to life is accepting challenges. Once someone stops doing this, he's dead.

Bette Davis
— American actress

Tags: challenge, Life, Key, accepting, challenges, once, someone, stops, doing

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o 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
— The Lonely Life: An Autobiography (1962).

Tags: work, chance, dreams, fulfill, dream, allowed, sweat, over, lonely

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Attempt the impossible in order to improve your work.

Bette Davis
— As quoted in The Quotable Woman, 1800-1975 (1977) by Elaine Partnow, p. 315.

Tags: work, Attempt, impossible, order, improve

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