Lauren Bacall Quotes

When you talk about a great actor, you're not talking about Tom Cruise. His whole behavior is so shocking. 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.

- Lauren Bacall

Private, I Think, Use, Unacceptable

It's inappropriate and vulgar and absolutely unacceptable to use your private life to sell anything commercially.

- Lauren Bacall

Sell, Private, Use, Unacceptable

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.

- Lauren Bacall

Human Being, Made, Actress, Showbiz

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.

- Lauren Bacall

Love, Lucky, Very, First Love

I don't look in the mirror; don't like what I see; never have. I am not my idea of a beauty. Never was. This is not false modesty. I've just never been enamoured of my face, which of course is magnified umpteen times on screen.

- Lauren Bacall

Beauty, Mirror, Been, Magnified

All the Warner actors were real actors. They started in theater and led very straightforward lives - you never saw entourages around. The MGM girls were the glamour girls, and they always had the makeup and hair people with them and all that.

- Lauren Bacall

Makeup, Straightforward, Led, MGM

I studied dancing for 13 years. And loved to dance. Always wanted to dance with Fred Astaire.

- Lauren Bacall

Dancing, Loved, Always, Fred

In actual fact, I've never been one, even from childhood, to kind of analyze myself very much.

- Lauren Bacall

Been, Very, Actual, Analyze

I loved reading Grimm's fairy tales and Hans Christian Andersen, and I loved to dream about other worlds and other lives. Maybe that has something to do with having an incomplete family, being an only child. All I know is I loved to pretend, and all that was in tandem with my wanting to be an actress.

- Lauren Bacall

Other, Wanting, Worlds, Incomplete

I wish Frank Sinatra would just shut up and sing.

- Lauren Bacall

Wish, Frank, Shut, None

I don't have an entourage. In fact, I have no live-in help.

- Lauren Bacall

Help, Fact, In Fact, Entourage

I always wanted to work with Spencer Tracy, which never happened, although I knew him well. And I never worked with Cary Grant.

- Lauren Bacall

Always, Which, Spencer Tracy, Grant

I'm a big fan of Daniel Day-Lewis. He's a marvelous actor. He stands alone, I think.

- Lauren Bacall

Think, Big, I Think, Marvelous

There were times, sure, I wanted my career to go better. But once it starts to go downhill, you can never get back, or only to some degree.

- Lauren Bacall

Career, Some, Sure, Downhill

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.

- Lauren Bacall

Woman, Well-Being, Give, Downhill

Imagination is the highest kite one can fly.

- Lauren Bacall

Fly, Imagination, Highest, Kite

They're 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.

- Lauren Bacall

More, Been, Which, Screw

Movies are great fun and wonderful when they're good. But you never get to see them till six months after they're finished. So you never get a sense of whether they're really well liked or how good they are. And you don't really know what the finished product is going to be like, because it's a director's medium.

- Lauren Bacall

Good, Medium, Till, Great Fun

For my peculiar face, I look best when I look as though I'm not wearing make-up.

- Lauren Bacall

Face, Make-Up, Though, Peculiar

I adored 'Breaking The Waves,' so when Lars von Trier wanted me in 'Dogville,' I was beside myself with joy. He works in a way that nobody I've ever worked with works.

- Lauren Bacall

Myself, Waves, Works, Beside

In Hollywood, an equitable divorce settlement means each party getting fifty percent of publicity.

- Lauren Bacall

Hollywood, Getting, Means, Settlement

I am not a has-been. I am a will be.

- Lauren Bacall

Motivational, I Am, Will, Has-Been

You are welcoming to everyone when you're a liberal. You do not have a small mind.

- Lauren Bacall

Mind, Small, Everyone, Welcoming

What is the point of working all your life and then stopping?

- Lauren Bacall

Working, Your, All Your Life, Stopping

I'm not a sedentary person. I've always been active.

- Lauren Bacall

Person, Always, Been, Sedentary

It was Howard Hawks who changed my life.

- Lauren Bacall

Life, My Life, Hawks, Changed

I was this kid, and I was scared to death of all these pros around me... My head would shake, and my hands would shake, and I discovered if I kept my head down and looked up, my head would not shake, so I started to do that when I could, when it was appropriate in a scene.

- Lauren Bacall

Discovered, Appropriate, Scared

The big rule is that you must never get mixed up with a married man - never even look sideways at another woman's fella. Boy, I really was terrific at obeying that rule, wasn't I?

- Lauren Bacall

Woman, Big, Married Man, Fella

When I was a kid, it was Bette Davis. She was my idol. I used to cut school and sit in the back of the theater; of course, I would have snuck in because I couldn't afford a ticket.

- Lauren Bacall

Kid, Ticket, Cut, Sit

I don't sit around thinking that I'd like to have another husband; only another man would make me think that way.

- Lauren Bacall

Think, Like, Another Man, Sit

A woman isn't complete without a man. But where do you find a man - a real man - these days?

- Lauren Bacall

Woman, Days, Find, Real Man

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.

- Lauren Bacall

Matter, Private, Loves, Illness

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.

- Lauren Bacall

Chin, Badly, Chest, Tremble

Film is not a woman's medium. If you weren't the hottest kid in town, men stayed away from you.

- Lauren Bacall

Woman, Away, Town, Hottest

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.

- Lauren Bacall

Occasion, About, Prefer, Disaster

I used to dream of being other places, other people. It was an escape for me.

- Lauren Bacall

Dream, Places, Other, Escape

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.

- Lauren Bacall

Business, Manager, Move, Stock

My feeling about the movies is that most of them are terrible. If you don't have a decent script and a decent director, forget it.

- Lauren Bacall

Director, About, Them, Terrible

Young people, even in Hollywood, ask me, 'Were you really married to Humphrey Bogart?' 'Well, yes, I think I was,' I reply.

- Lauren Bacall

Think, Hollywood, I Think, Reply

I'm not tough, and I never have been. I suppose over the years I've built up kind of a veneer to protect myself because I have functioned on my own for a long, long time, and I have never had a lot of flunkies preceding me to clear the way.

- Lauren Bacall

Own, Been, Had, Protect

I never believed marriage was a lasting institution. I thought that to be married for five years was to be married forever.

- Lauren Bacall

Thought, Never, Institution, Believed

You learn to rise above a lot of bad things that happen in your life. And you have to keep going.

- Lauren Bacall

Rise Above, Bad, Happen, Rise

If I could have lived as an actress in any period, it would have been the 1920s - I would have loved to have been part of that speakeasy era.

- Lauren Bacall

1920s, Actress, Period, If I Could

I was always a little unsteady in my self-belief. Then there was the Jewish thing. I love being Jewish, I have no problem with it at all. But it did become like a scar, with all these people saying you don't look it.

- Lauren Bacall

Love, Jewish, I Love, Scar

I love being Jewish; I have no problem with it at all. But it did become like a scar, with all these people saying you don't look it.

- Lauren Bacall

Love, Jewish, Like, Scar

Stardom isn't a profession, it's an accident.

- Lauren Bacall

Accident, Profession, Stardom

God - if the press ever quoted anyone correctly, it would be brilliant.

- Lauren Bacall

Quoted, Ever, Correctly, Press

I suppose there are times when I can't believe that I've lived the way that I have and done the things that I've done. Life's a joke anyway. It's all ridiculous. It's all so short.

- Lauren Bacall

Believe, Done, Suppose, Joke

The biggest misconception people have about me is that I'm in control of every situation. I'm rarely in control of any situation.

- Lauren Bacall

Me, About, Biggest, Situation

I've always felt that work - learning from people who know more than I know - is what keeps you going.

- Lauren Bacall

Work, Always, Going, Keeps

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.

- Lauren Bacall

Thought, I Remember, Concept, Oldest

Legends are all to do with the past and nothing to do with the present.

- Lauren Bacall

Past, Nothing, Legends, Present

I am essentially a loner.

- Lauren Bacall

I Am, Loner, Am, Essentially

You can't start worrying about what's going to happen. You get spastic enough worrying about what's happening now.

- Lauren Bacall

Happen, Going, Worrying, Happening

Find me a man who's interesting enough to have dinner with and I'll be happy.

- Lauren Bacall

Happy, Interesting, Find, Dinner

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.

- Lauren Bacall

Marriage, Regret, Career, Good Marriage

Men need to feel important. They feel better when they're with younger girls or unknown girls.

- Lauren Bacall

Important, Better, Need, Unknown

Acting is a life of rejection.

- Lauren Bacall

Life, Acting, Rejection

I finally felt that I came into my own when I went on the stage.

- Lauren Bacall

Stage, My Own, Finally, I Came

That was my original dream, anyway, to be on stage. I think the stage is an actor's place because actors, it belongs to you.

- Lauren Bacall

Think, Original, I Think, Anyway

I'm a total Democrat. I'm anti-Republican. And it's only fair that you know it... I'm liberal. The L word!

- Lauren Bacall

Only, Democrat, Total, Liberal

A famous love story is hard to maintain when you both live in the spotlight.

- Lauren Bacall

Love, Famous, Maintain, Spotlight

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.

- Lauren Bacall

Life, Woman, Values, Easy

I wasn't brought up as a society girl to go to balls and be a debutante and marry the social set and money and go to parties. No one in my family lived like that. And I never wanted to live like that. I was brought up to believe in work. I always wanted a career. Always.

- Lauren Bacall

Career, Balls, Brought, Parties

I figure if I have my health, can pay the rent and I have my friends, I call it 'content.'

- Lauren Bacall

Health, Call, Figure, Rent

You can't acquire a voice. Either you have it, or you don't.

- Lauren Bacall

Voice, You, Either, Acquire

We live in an age of mediocrity.

- Lauren Bacall

Age, Live, Mediocrity

It's just a fact of life that I don't think I've ever been taken particularly seriously in movies by movie makers. I don't know why.

- Lauren Bacall

Think, Fact, Been, Taken

Actors today go into TV, which I don't consider has a lot to do with acting.

- Lauren Bacall

TV, Which, Lot, Consider

I don't consider myself a great actress. I'm just trying to stay alive, actually. I think I'm good, and I've learned a lot, certainly, mostly in the theater. I've been sloughed off movies for years. But what can you do? That's life.

- Lauren Bacall

Been, I Think, Mostly, Consider

When a person who is very ill decides to treat it like a slight virus, you play that game. If you make a big scene, I think it is yourself you are doing it for, not the person who's ill.

- Lauren Bacall

Play, Big, Very, Virus

Stupidity is not my favourite thing; I cannot deal with it.

- Lauren Bacall

Stupidity, Deal, Cannot, Favourite

I was never my favourite subject.

- Lauren Bacall

Never, Subject, Favourite

You can't always be a leading lady.

- Lauren Bacall

You, Always, Leading, Lady

My definition of a star is someone who really lasts for a very long time.

- Lauren Bacall

Long Time, Very, Lasts, Definition

Looking at yourself in a mirror isn't exactly a study of life.

- Lauren Bacall

Mirror, Looking, Study, Exactly

I like to work with really good professional people - anyone with real talent.

- Lauren Bacall

Work, Like, Anyone, Professional

I happen to watch public television more than anything else. I'm also a news junkie, so I watch a lot of CNN.

- Lauren Bacall

News, Television, Happen, CNN

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.

- Lauren Bacall

Past, In The Past, Part, Reflecting

I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be proud of that.

- Lauren Bacall

Age, Think, I Think, Face

Patience was not my strong point.

- Lauren Bacall

Strong, Point, Patience

If you're searching for quotes on a different topic, feel free to browse our Topics page or explore a diverse collection of quotes from various Authors to find inspiration.

Powerful Lauren Bacall for Daily Growth