141+ Best Bette Davis Quotes: Exclusive Selection

Ruth Elizabeth “Bette” Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. After a brief theater career, Davis became one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, appearing in nearly 100 films. Inspirational Bette Davis quotes have the power to motivate you, lift your spirit and help you to have more belief in yourselves.

If you’re searching for inspiring quotes from top actress that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of Humphrey Bogart quotes, powerful Scarlett Johansson quotes, and amazing Hedy Lamarr quotes.

Most Famous Bette Davis Quotes

It’s better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for someone you’re not It’s a sign of your worth sometimes if you’re hated by the right people Bette Davis

You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good Joan Crawford is dead Good! Bette Davis

You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good  Joan Crawford is dead Good Bette Davis

She has seen every male star at MGM except Lassie Bette Davis

If everyone likes you, you’re not doing it right Bette Davis

I wouldn’t piss on her if she was on fire Bette Davis

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

We were two different types entirely I can’t think of a single part I played that Joan could do Not one Can you Bette Davis

Getting old is not for sissies Bette Davis

Joan always cries a lot Her tear ducts must be very close to her bladder Bette Davis

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

Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy night! Bette Davis

If everybody likes you, you’re pretty dull Bette Davis

I’ll admit I may have seen better days, but I’m still not to be had for the price of a cocktail, like a salted peanut 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

There was more good acting at Hollywood parties than ever appeared on the screen Bette Davis

If you want a thing done well, get a couple of old broads to do it Bette Davis

I never did pal around with actresses Their talk usually bored me to tears Bette Davis

Life is the past, the present, and the perhaps Bette Davis

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

There may be a heaven, but if Joan Crawford is there, I’m not going Bette Davis

Today everyone is a star  they’re all billed as starring or also starring In my day, we earned that recognition Bette Davis

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

If you want a thing done well, get a couple of old broads to do it Bette Davis

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

I’m the nicest goddamn dame that ever lived Bette Davis

It’s true we don’t know what we’ve got until it’s gone, but we don’t know what we’ve been missing until it arrives Pleasure of love lasts but a moment, Pain of love lasts a lifetime Bette Davis

Yes, burn your bridges Bette Davis

I want to die with my high heels on, still in action Bette Davis

Technicolor makes me look like death warmed over Bette Davis

The key to life is accepting challenges Once someone stops doing this, he’s dead Bette Davis

If you’ve never been hated by your child, you’ve never been a parent Bette Davis

Your luck is how you treat people Bette Davis

Strong women only marry weak men Bette Davis

Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy night!  As Margo Channing in All About Eve Bette Davis

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

If you’ve never been hated by your child, you’ve never been a parent Bette Davis

You know what I’m going to have on my gravestone? She did it the hard way Bette Davis

If everybody likes you, you are not a very interesting person Bette Davis

You know what nostalgia is, don’t you? It’s basically a matter of recalling the fun without reliving the pain Bette Davis

A sure way to lose happiness, I found, is to want it at the expense of everything else Bette Davis

Life is the past, the present, and the perhaps Bette Davis

Attempt the impossible in order to improve your work 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

Success is built on disappointment, and disappointment is inherent in all success Bette Davis

I was thought to be stuck up I wasn’t I was just sure of myself Bette Davis

One begins to realize that one is getting old when the birthday candles weigh more than the cake Bette Davis

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

Being called very, very difficult is the beginning of success Until you’re called very, very difficult you’re really nobody at all Bette Davis

I want to die with my high heels on, still in action Bette Davis

Once the love bug wears off, as it inevitably does, you are shocked to discover that you really didn’t know the object of your affections at all We know this to be so, even as we repeat the same mistake over and over and over Bette Davis

I wanted to be the first to win three Oscars, but Miss Hepburn has done it Actually, it hasn’t been done Miss Hepburn only won half an Oscar If they’d given me half an Oscar I would have thrown it back in their faces You see, I’m an Aries I never lose Bette Davis

I have eyes like a bullfrog, a neck like an ostrich, and long, limp hair You just have to be good to survive with that equipment Bette Davis

I think I showed my restraint by not pulling her hair out by the roots Bette Davis

I’m the nicest goddamn dame that ever lived Bette Davis

One nurse told me to say please when I asked her to do something She should consider herself luck to be in one piece today Bette Davis

There is a certain ecstasy in wanting things you can’t get Bette Davis

I would rather have a go at something I feel, and be hurt, than always be protecting myself  that way one does not really live Bette Davis

You know what I’m going to have on my gravestone? She did it the hard way Bette Davis

I gave her a look that would exterminate lice Bette Davis

I am a woman meant for a man, but I never found a man who could compete Bette Davis

I never did pal around with actresses Their talk usually bored me to tear Bette Davis

I wouldn’t piss on Joan Crawford if she were on fire Bette Davis

The world’s all full of thoughts about wars and space, and tragedies to the world That’s what writers are thinking about because that’s what the world is thinking about Bette Davis

You should know me well enough by now to know I don’t ask for things I don’t think I can get Bette Davis

There was more good acting at Hollywood parties than ever appeared on the screen Bette Davis

Don’t you hate people who drink white wine? I mean, my dear, every alcoholic in town is getting falling down drunk on white wine They think they aren’t drunks because they only drink wine Never, never trust anyone who asks for white wine It means they’re phonies Bette Davis

I think it’s just too much trouble to be dishonest and keep up with yourself Bette Davis

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

I don’t take the movies seriously, and anyone who does is in for a headache Bette Davis

One can make more enemies as a female with a brain, I think Bette Davis

I think men have got to change an awful lot They still prefer the little woman Bette Davis

It’s a rare man who can stand being around an intelligent woman, let alone married to her Bette Davis

I will never be below the title Bette Davis

I have been uncompromising, peppery, intractable, monomaniacal, tactless, volatile, and oftentimes disagreeable I suppose I’m larger than life Bette Davis

Daddy in his infinite knowledge always saw the roots and not the flowers He took all the watches of the world apart and never knew what time it was 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

One can be respected with the truth in Hollywood just as much as anywhere else you know or else I wouldn’t have had a career Bette Davis