Lucille Ball
37 quotes
Biography
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, actress, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by Time in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for her work in all four of these areas.
"Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."
"I'm not funny. What I am is brave."
"Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. Your really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."
"In life, all good things come hard, but wisdom is the hardest to come by."
"Luck? I don’t know anything about luck. I’ve never banked on it and I’m afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: hard work - and realizing what opportunity is and what isn’t."— Lucille Ball"
"Id rather regret the things that I have done than the things that I have not done."
"I have an everyday religion that works for me. Love yourself first, and everything else falls into line."
"I don't suppose that hard work, discipline, and a perfectionist attitude toward my work did me any harm. They are a big part of my makeup today, as any of my co-workers will tell you. And when life seemed unbearable, I learned to live in my imagination, and to step inside other people's skins- indispensable abilities for an actress."
"People with happy childhoods never overdo; they don't strive or exert themselves. They're moderate, pleasant, well liked, and good citizens. Society needs them. But the tremendous drive and dedication necessary to succeed in any field- not only show business- often seems to be rooted in a disturbed childhood. I wasn't an unloved or an unwanted child, but I was moved around a lot, and then death and cruel circumstances brought many painful separations."
"Here's what I advise any young struggling actress today: The important thing is to develop as a woman first, and a performer second. You wouldn't prostitute yourself to get a part, not if you're in the right mind. You won't be happy, whatever you do, unless you're comfortable with your own conscience."
"Russell Markert, Lela Rogers, Ed Sedgwick - these were but a few of the experienced theater people who generously gave me a boost. I have a theory about the assists we get in life. Only rarely can we repay those people who helped us, but we can pass that help along to others. That's why, in 1958, I reactivated Lela's theater workshop with two dozen talented kids trying to get started in show business."
"My ideal of womanhood has always been the pioneer woman who fought and worked at her husband's side. She bore the children, kept the home fires burning; she was the hub of the family, the planner and the dreamer."
"This was the heyday of the movies; it was hard to keep a level head and one's sense of values. MGM made over-worked, spoiled idols out of Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, and Elizabeth Taylor; it wasn't the kids' fault, nor the studio's, it was the System. I too was on the spoiling list for a while, but I didn't go along with it."
"I closed my eyes, put blinders on, and ignored what was too painful to think about. I tried to view my troubles less seriously, and worry less. I tried to curb my temper. Things said in embarrassment and anger are seldom the truth, but are said to hurt and wound the other person. Once said, they can never be taken back."
"For there's a lot of masochism in the acting profession. We're willing to take a lot of punishment, but the minute we hit a little bit of success we are liable to run from it. We're frightened of it and develop all kinds of phobias as a consequence. Outsiders who don't understand think we have a chip on our shoulder, but it's not that at all. We're so used to failure, to being hurt and rebuffed, that we can easily come unhinged by success."
"When you're too mad and too rattled to see straight, you're bound to make mistakes. You can't go on and on for years being miserable about a situation and not have it change you. You get so you can't stand yourself."
"Children internalize their parents' unhappiness. Fortunately, they absorb our contentment just as readily."
"I will never do another TV series. It couldn't top I Love Lucy, and I'd be foolish to try. In this business, you have to know when to get off."
"I hate failure and that divorce was a Number One failure in my eyes. It was the worst period of my life. Neither Desi nor I have been the same since, physically or mentally."
"Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead."
"Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead."
"How I Love Lucy was born? We decided that instead of divorce lawyers profiting from our mistakes, we'd profit from them."
"I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done."
"Women's Lib? Oh, I'm afraid it doesn't interest me one bit. I've been so liberated it hurts."
"Luck? I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it and I'm afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: Hard work - and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't."