Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American film and theater actor. His turning point came in the 1940s, with his legendary roles in The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca. His performances in numerous films from the Classical Hollywood era made him a cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected him as the greatest male star of classic American cinema. Inspirational Humphrey Bogart quotes will really motivate you when you need a little push and make you rethink.
If you’re searching for motivational quotes by actors that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of greatest Mae West quotes, wise Will Rogers quotes, and inspiring Burt Reynolds quotes.
Most Famous Humphrey Bogart Quotes
I think Marlon Brando is one of the best young actors in the business, and I think he’ll be great as soon as he gets that potato out of his mouth.
A hotdog at the ballpark is better than a steak at the Ritz.
The only point in making money is, you can tell some big shot where to go.
It is at least worth arguing that there is a modicum of the creative novelist in all of us, and that this absorption with how men get out of difficulties, single-handedly and alone if possible, is the stuff of which we weave the warp and woof of our own better dramatic imaginings.
The only honest way to find the best actor would be to let everybody play Hamlet and let the best man win. Of course, you’d get some pretty funny Hamlets that way.
I don’t approve of the John Waynes and the Gary Coopers saying ‘Shucks, I ain’t no actor — I’m just a bridge builder or a gas station attendant.’ If they aren’t actors, what the hell are they getting paid for? I have respect for my profession. I worked hard at it.
The whole world is three drinks behind. If everybody in the world would take three drinks, we would have no trouble.
The trouble with the world is that it’s always one drink behind.
When the heavy, full of crime and bitterness, grabs his wounds and talks about death and taxes in a husky voice, the audience is his and his alone.
Obviously, Noël Coward is the guy Orson Welles thinks he is.
I should never have switched from scotch to martinis.
They’ll nail anyone who ever scratched his ass during the National Anthem.
I hate funerals. They aren’t for the guy who’s dead. They’re for the guys who are left alive and enjoy mourning.
As long as they spell your name right and you are not accused of dope or rape, you are all right.
Shout ‘gas’ around the studios today, and half the young male stars will come running.
Inspirational Humphrey Bogart Quotes
I’m no Communist, just an American dope.
Acting is like sex: you either do it and don’t talk about it, or you talk about it and don’t do it. That’s why I’m always suspicious of people who talk too much about either.
I have absolutely no interest in who gets the girl. I don’t care. I don’t see any reason to spend two hours to see who gets the girl especially since you know who’s going to get her from the beginning – usually the actor who gets the most money.
These Actor’s Studio types – they mumble their lines. I can’t hear their words. I miss the cues. This scratch-your-ass-and-mumble school of acting doesn’t please me.
This guy [Marlon Brando] – he’ll be doing Hamlet when the rest of us are selling potatoes.
They are the damnedest bilge. They distort everything. I can’t stand them. They build up an audience of people who read fan magazines.
I made more lousy pictures than any actor in history.
Do I subscribe to the school of acting? Ah, nuts. I’m an actor. I just do what comes naturally.
Acting is experience with something sweet behind it.
Democrat in politics, Episcopalian by upbringing, dissenter by disposition.
The only good reason to have money is this: so that you can tell any SOB in the world to go to hell.
She’s a real Joe. You’ll fall in love with her like everybody else.
I can’t say I ever loved my mother, I admired her.
Top Humphrey Bogart Quotes
I didn’t do anything I’ve never done before, but when the camera moves in on that Bergman face, and she’s saying she loves you, it would make anybody feel romantic.
It’s been misspelt a lot. He decided on it. It’s not Bog-ey. He signed with an -ie. And that’s good enough for me. –
I don’t hurt the industry. The industry hurts itself, by making so many lousy movies – as if General Motors deliberately put out a bad car.
I don’t think I have a chance. For one thing, I don’t have a big studio behind me to do the campaigning. And there are some pretty sharp boys in the race.
The only thing you owe the public is a good performance.
She talks at you as though you were a microphone. She lectured the hell out of me on temperance and the evils of drink. She doesn’t give a damn how she looks. I don’t think she tries to be a character. I think she is one.
A hot dog at the game beats roast beef at the Ritz.
I came out here with one suit and everybody said I looked like a bum. Twenty years later Marlon Brando came out with only a sweatshirt and the town drooled over him. That shows how much Hollywood has progressed.
You’re not a star until they can spell your name in Karachi.
You could argue with her, but she was tough. When Jack saw her striding into the jungle alone one morning, he thought, “God help the jungle”.
Even when I was carrying a gun, she scared the be-jesus out of me.
I’m not good-looking. I used to be but not any more. Not like Robert Taylor. What I have got is I have character in my face. it’s taken an awful lot of late nights and drinking to put it there. When I go to work in a picture, I say, ‘Don’t take the lines out of my face. Leave them there.’
This studio has more suspensions than the Golden Gate Bridge.