Mary Jane West, popularly known as Mae West, was born on 17th August 1893 in Kings County, New York, U.S. She was a very famous American actress, singer, playwright, comedian, and screenwriter whose career spanned over 70 years. She started appearing in several shows when she was only seven. She won several contests and started performing professionally at the age of 14.
She made her film debut in Night After Night in 1932. Her other work, She Done Him Wrong, won an Academy Award Nomination for Best Picture. Her other hit was I'm No Angel. In 1959 she published an autobiography, Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It.
She had her own unique personality, and her ability to satirize societal norms and prejudices are remarkable. In honor of her perfect hourglass figure, the Allied soldiers called their inflatable life jackets 'Mae Wests' during World War II. She died of a stroke on 22nd November 1980 at the age of 87.
Some of the Mae West famous quotes are as follows.
You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.
We have one life. We should therefore try to make the most of it. If you live this life to your fullest, you will never regret it. You should always try to make the most out of it.
Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.
This is one of the most famous lines by Mae West. When someone commented on her necklace, "Goodness, how beautiful diamonds!" she replied, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie." This means that whatever we become or whatever we are, being good is not the only way of achieving things. When you work hard, choose the right direction, dedicate yourself completely to that task, you succeed. Even bad people will succeed if they have these qualities in themselves.
Is that a pistol in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
Nobody is nice to you without any reason except for the ones who really love you. Those who love you will be happy to see you and feel good about your presence, while those who don't like you will never want anything good for you. They will constantly find ways to backstab you and manipulate others to harm you. You should be very careful about choosing friends. Not everyone who smiles at you is your well-wisher.
When I'm good I'm very, very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better.
This line has a very intimate and sexual connotation to it. Mae had always been a fearless and strong woman. She never succumbed to the boundaries and limitations that society posed at her. She says that when she is good, she is really good, and when she is in a bad and nasty mood, she is better.
Continue reading some more famous Mae West Quotes...
Too much of a good thing can be taxing.
Too much of anything is not good. Even if it is a good thing, too much is not good. Everything is sweeter when it is limited to an extent. An overdose of anything works in an adverse way. When you get too much of something, you have to pay for it too.
When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I've never tried before.
Life is not always about happy moments. Life is all about experiences. It doesn't matter whether it is good or bad. One should always try to gain more and more experiences in his life. A good experience can give good results, and a bad experience will teach how to cope up with such situations. If you have to take a bad road, take the one you have never traveled before because that will teach you many more good lessons in life.
I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
Snow White is a princess in a fairy tale who has a pure heart, is happy and innocent. 'Drifted' means to digress, divert or stray to another subject. In other words, it was my goal to be like her, but I've become someone far from being just naive, innocent, and happy.
Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution.
Marriage is an institution. When you marry someone, you have to follow some rules and norms. You have to value that relation a lot. One should never get into a relationship when he/she is not ready for it. Marriage should not be a compulsion, it is a choice, and it should be like that.
A hard man is good to find.
A strong man, physically, mentally and emotionally, is a man worth admiring. If you find a man who is hard from the inside, who has a lot of strong beliefs, you should treasure them. They are hard to find.
When women go wrong, men go right after them.
It is human nature to commit mistakes. No matter which gender you belong to, we always make mistakes and learn from them. In this patriarchal society that we live in, committing mistakes is considered to be a crime for women. When a woman commits a mistake, she is charged by the men of society. She is questioned and harassed deliberately by others.
Some more famous Mae West Quotes...
I'll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure.
One should always try everything once in his lifetime. If he thinks that he likes to do it, he should do it twice and to make sure that you really like it, you should try it thrice. We should always do what we love the most.
It's not the men in my life that count, it's the life of my men.
It's not about how many people are there in my life, but it's about how lively those people are. It's about how much life they have within themselves.
I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.
One should always try to avoid temptation as much as one can. He should never fall into this trap. One should try to avoid it till the time you can't resist it. Sometimes it is okay to make a mistake and learn from it, then never try at all.
It is better to be looked over than overlooked.
Attention is always better than ignorance. One should always try to be in the attention. It is better to catch attention than to get overlooked by others. One should always try to be extraordinary and out of the box.
I'm a woman of very few words, but lots of action.
It's not about what you say but it is about what you do, that counts. One should never speak a lot and do anything at all. You should do a lot more. You should talk less and act more.
Few more Mae West Quotes...
An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises.
A great performance wins the heart of every individual. Everyone remembers a great performance. A great performance is worth a thousand promises.
I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond.
One should never be bothered about diets. She should never worry about being on a strict diet. The only carrot she should be interested in is how much worthy her diamonds are. It's about your worth, not how you look.
I always say, keep a diary and someday it'll keep you.
Keeping a diary is very important. When you keep a diary, you take note of every special moment in your life. He never forgets anything. He will remember everything. He will never forget the moments he had lived before.
I never loved another person the way I loved myself.
Self-love is the most important step that one must take first. Loving and accepting your own self is the biggest and the most crucial thing one does. When you don't love yourself, you can never love anyone else in your life.
Love conquers all things except poverty and toothache.
Love is greater than everything. Love conquers all. Love can conquer everything but poverty and toothache. Poverty and toothache cannot be cured by love. Some things cannot be controlled by love. Love is very important in life, but it cannot stop you from suffering due to poverty and toothache.
