Article image

19 Quotes From the Icons of Hollywood’s Golden Age

Moviemaking in the Golden Age of Hollywood — the era from the 1920s to 1960s when the studio system controlled American film production — is remembered for its glitz and glamour, but the movie business was also cutthroat.

The studios, and in particular the Big Five (Universal, Paramount, Warner Bros., Disney, and Columbia), owned everything from the scripts to the sets to the theaters — and infamously controlled the careers of its biggest stars, who were held to stringent standards and often told how to eat, what to wear, and even who to date.

In 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to break up the monopoly of the Big Five, and in the 1960s, when television became a dominant medium, the Golden Age of film finally faded. We still have movie stars, of course, but none that shine so bright as the stars of the early 20th century.

Just about every movie star from those glitzy years has left some record of how they viewed themselves and their peers during those times. Some remained ever optimistic, while others turned to comedy to make sense of their unusual lives, but they all seemed to appreciate that they held a special place in the history of film and pop culture.

Here, we’ve compiled 19 of our favorite one-liners from the icons of that time — sentiments of kindness, humor, and endurance that still ring true today.

Love yourself first, and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.
Lucille Ball

Share Quote

I’m fortunate to be a coward, to have a low threshold of fear, because a hero couldn’t make a good suspense film.
Alfred Hitchcock

Share Quote

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
Judy Garland

Share Quote

Intentions often melt in the face of unexpected opportunity.
Shirley Temple

Share Quote

Things are never so bad they can’t be made worse.
Humphrey Bogart

Share Quote

Never confuse the size of your paycheck with the size of your talent.
Marlon Brando

Share Quote

So much of life, it seems to me, is determined by pure randomness.
Sidney Poitier

Share Quote

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

Share Quote

The problem with the people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they’re going to have some pretty annoying virtues.
Elizabeth Taylor

Share Quote

Happiness is good health and a bad memory.
Ingrid Bergman

Share Quote

A shot of brandy can save your life, but a bottle of brandy can kill you.
Cary Grant

Share Quote

One nice thing about silence is that it can’t be repeated.
Gary Cooper

Share Quote

Men who think deeply say little in ordinary conversations.
Charlie Chaplin

Share Quote

You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.
Audrey Hepburn

Share Quote

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

Share Quote

Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell.
Joan Crawford

Share Quote

The best gift you can give yourself is the gift of possibility.
Paul Newman

Share Quote

Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes.
Sophia Loren

Share Quote

You’ve achieved success in your field when you don’t know whether what you’re doing is work or play.
Warren Beatty

Share Quote

Featured image credit: Bettmann via Getty Images

Author image
About the Author
April Dávila
April Dávila is a lover of words. Her debut novel "142 Ostriches" was released in 2020.
Play more header background
Play more icon
Daily Question
Fill in the blank: "You must love in such a way that the person you love feels ___." - Thích Nhất Hạnh

More Inspiration

happiness theme icon

The truth is the light and light is the truth.

separator icon
Ralph Ellison
motivation theme icon

To go wrong in one's own way is better than to go right in someone else's.

separator icon
Fyodor Dostoevsky
hope theme icon

He who has peace of mind disturbs neither himself nor another.

separator icon
Epicurus
love theme icon

April, dressed in all his trim, hath put a spirit of youth in everything.

separator icon
William Shakespeare
wisdom theme icon

Judge each day not by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.

separator icon
William A. Ward
happiness theme icon

Live for each second without hesitation.

separator icon
Elton John
motivation theme icon

The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.

separator icon
Chief Joseph
hope theme icon

Human beings must always be on the watch for the coming of wonders.

separator icon
E.B. White
love theme icon

We cannot be more sensitive to pleasure without being more sensitive to pain.

separator icon
Alan Watts
wisdom theme icon

Everything that truly makes us happy is quite simple: love, sex, and food!

separator icon
Meryl Streep
happiness theme icon

It isn't a sadness, but a joy, that we don't do the same things for the length of our lives.

separator icon
Gabrielle Zevin