69 Star-Studded Sayings: Classic Hollywood Quotes

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Have you ever wondered what pearls of wisdom your favorite silver screen icons might share if you bumped into them at a swanky Los Angeles café? 

From the golden age of cinema to the modern era, Hollywood legends have been dropping quotable gems that stick with us long after the credits roll. These aren’t just lines from scripts; they’re snapshots of the personalities that made Tinseltown sparkle.

From Humphrey Bogart’s cool charm to Marilyn Monroe’s sassy wisdom, these words will make you laugh, think, and maybe even see the world of showbiz in a whole new light. 

1. “If everybody likes you, you’re pretty dull.” – Bette Davis

2. “Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.” – Charlie Chaplin

3. “Some of my best leading men have been dogs and horses.” – Elizabeth Taylor

4. “I’ve been lucky. Opportunities don’t often come along. So when they do, you have to grab them.” – Audrey Hepburn

5. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” – Clarke Gable, “Gone in the Wind, 1939”

6. “Bigger than life is not difficult for me. I am bigger than life!” – Rita Moreno

7. “I’ve been on a calendar, but never on time.” – Marilyn Monroe

8. “Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.” – James Dean

9. “I never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back.” – Zsa Zsa Gabor

10. “If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased.” – Katharine Hepburn

11. “I never say never, and I never say always.” – Grace Kelly

12. “Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.” – Mae West

13. “There are two reasons why I am successful in show business and I’m standing on both of them.” – Betty Grable

14. “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” – Katherine Hepburn

15. “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” – Lena Horne

16. “I see you’re a man with ideals. I better be going before you’ve still got them.” – Mae West

17. “How strange when an illusion dies. It’s as though you’ve lost a child.” – Judy Garland

18. “No one ever expects a great lay to pay all of the bills.” – Jean Harlow

19. “For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.” – Audrey Hepburn

20. “Hollywood always wanted me to be pretty, but I fought for realism.” – Bette Davis

21. “Happiness is good health and a bad memory.” – Ingrid Bergman

22. “Marriage is a great institution, but I’m not ready for an institution.” – Mae West

23. “There is a God, even in Hollywood.” – Jean Harlow

24. “S*x appeal is fifty percent what you’ve got and fifty percent what people think you’ve got.” – Sophia Loren

25. “I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot.” – Audrey Hepburn

26. “I can live without money, but I cannot live without love.” – Judy Garland

27. “In this business, until you’re known as a monster, you’re not a star.” – Bette Davis

28. “If you took acting away from me, I’d stop breathing.” – Ingrid Bergman

29. “It ain’t no sin if you crack a few laws now and then, just so long as you don’t break any.” – Mae West

30. “I am not a party hound.” – Jean Harlow 

31. “Everybody has a heart… except some people.” – Bette Davis

32. “I was born with a tremendous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it.” – Audrey Hepburn

33. “I was born at the age of 12 on an MGM lot.” – Judy Garland

34. “A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.” – Ingrid Bergman

35. “I’m no model lady. A model is just the imitation of the real thing.” – Mae West

36. “I’m drinking only because I have to have something to keep me going.” – Jean Harlow

37. “I never thought I’d land in pictures with a face like mine.” – Audrey Hepburn

38. “I will not retire while I’ve still got my legs and my makeup box.” – Bette Davis

39. “Never again! I can see no reason for marriage — ever at all.” – Ingrid Bergman

40.  “It is better to be looked over than overlooked.” – Mae West

41. “When you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.” – Jean Harlow

42.  “I was never very interested in boys.” – Bette Davis

43.  “I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls.” – Audrey Hepburn

44. “Be yourself. The world worships the original.” – Ingrid Bergman

45. “They say marriages are made in Heaven. But so is thunder and lightning.” – Clint Eastwood

46. “Sometimes if you want to see a change for the better, you have to take things into your own hands.” – Clint Eastwood

47. “The constructs of organized thought are all around us, the golden age will come when they are freed.” – Tom Althouse.

48. “Life can be very hard sometimes and you wonder why, but a little compassion is sometimes all anyone needs to get by.” – Heather Wolf

49. “Hollywood’s Studio Era was part of a Golden Age because it didn’t need profanity (unlike reality television today).” – Manny Pacheco

50. “The calla lilies are in bloom again. Such a strange flower — suitable to any occasion. I carried them on my wedding day, and now I place them here in memory of something that has died.” – Katharine Hepburn, “Stage Door, 1937”

51. “This thing we call failure – it’s not the falling down. It is the staying down.” – Mary Pickford

52. “I have always felt that one of the real secrets of beauty is simplicity.” – Rita Hayworth

53. “We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle.” – Marilyn Monroe

54. “Love may not make the world go round, but I must admit that it makes the ride worthwhile.” – Sir Sean Connery

55. “I don’t regret anything I’ve done – as long as I enjoyed it at the time.” – Katherine Hepburn

56. “I’m gonna live till I die.” – Frank Sinatra

57. “We all have a responsibility in life to do what we can to help those less fortunate.” – Roger Moore

58. “There just isn’t any pleasing some people. The trick is to stop trying.” – Robert Mitchum

59. “Life would be so wonderful if we only knew what to do with it.” – Greta Garbo

60. “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” – Kevin Spacey, “The Usual Suspects”

61. “Perhaps I am old-fashioned, but black and white films still hold an affectionate place in my heart; they have an incomparable mystique and mood.” – Ginger Rogers

62. “There is no force more powerful than a woman determined to rise.” – Dorothy Dandridge

63. “If you’ve got a talent, protect it.” – Jim Carrey

64. “Nothing ends nicely. That’s why it ends.” – Tom Cruise

65. “Acting is all about honesty. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” – George Burns

66. “You’ll have bad times, but it’ll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren’t paying attention to.” – Robin Williams

67. “Ladies who play with fire must remember that smoke gets in their eyes.” – Mae West

68. “Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick, and pull yourself together.” – Elizabeth Taylor

69. “Cinema is a matter of what’s in the frame and what’s out.” – Martin Scorsese

Isn’t it amazing how these Hollywood legends can capture so much in just a few words? Whether they’re making us laugh, think, or feel a little starstruck, their pearls of wisdom remind us why we fell in love with these icons in the first place.

They may have lived in a world of glitz and glamour, but their words show they were just as human as the rest of us – only with better lighting and snappier comebacks!