Bette Davis Quotes

50 Sourced Quotes

The real actor–like any real artist—has a direct line to the collective heart.

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
Of a a starlet:
I see – she's the original good time that was had by all.

Bette Davis
Some young Hollywood starlets remind me of my grandmother's old farmhouse — all painted up nice on the front side, a big swing on the backside, and nothing whatsoever in the attic.

Bette Davis
Temperament is something that is an integral part of the artist. Not temper, temperament. There is a vast difference.

Bette Davis
The person who wants to make it has to sweat. There are no short cuts. And you've got to have the guts to be hated. That's the hardest part.

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

Bette Davis
I think Mr. Reagan has done very well under very difficult circumstances. He's had terrific problems physically and he's managed them very well. But my God, the witch hunt today! Is there any human being alive who hasn't done something bad in their youth - like maybe smoke marijuana once? And this man (Judge Ginsburg) found it necessary to admit it! My God! It would be like Mr. Jack Kennedy sitting down and listing all the women (he knew) before he got in.

Bette Davis
I have always been driven by some distant music—a battle hymn no doubt—for I have been at war from the beginning.

Bette Davis
People stood on their chairs, cheering and waving. And it was all for me! Waves of love flooded the stage and washed over me. I started to cry. The sweetness of such a moment is impossible to describe. One is both lover and beloved.... I'd found the one true, enduring romance of my life.

Bette Davis
I may not have been wearing a mink coat, but I was traveling with a dog. That should have made you think I was an actress!

Bette Davis
It all started when I was told that I had a gift. The gods are Yankee traders. There are no gifts. Everything has a price, and in bitter moments I have been tempted to cry 'Usury!'

Bette Davis
'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
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
It is true that I never should have married, but I didn't want to live without a man. Brought up to respect the conventions, love had to end in marriage. I'm afraid it did.

Bette Davis
The man, my dear, is never going to make a marriage work. If it works, the woman does it.

Bette Davis
When I heard that people were talking about me, I consoled myself with what my mother, Ruthie, used to say: 'Birds peck at the best fruit.'

Bette Davis
It has been my experience that one cannot, in any shape or form, depend on human relations for lasting reward. It is only work that truly satisfies.

Bette Davis
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