Quotes from Lauren Bacall

We live in an age of mediocrity.

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.

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

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.

Patience was not my strong point.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

Isn't hope an incredible, a wonderfully demented thing?

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

And making a fool of yourself is something all actors have to risk doing. That's part of our business. And that too is not the end of the world, though it can seem so at the time

You don't always win your battles, but it's good to know you fought.

Bogie did not believe in in-laws living with husband and wife, and he didn't believe in anyone dropping in, relatives, even mothers, included. His rule was absolute: Call before and wait for an invitation. His home was sacred, and privacy to be respected.

I find that through the sad times, work is what made my continuing, not breaking down, possible. In work, I was always someone else and I subconsciously reveled in that.