Top 63 Inspirational Mae West Quotes You Must Read

Mae West was a successful actress and a screenwriter, born in 1893, and she died in 1980. She wrote for various newspapers, but she became famous after publishing her first novel called “The Pleasure Man.” She was the first woman to be nominated for an Academy Award.

Mae West’s most popular films were She Done Him Wrong and I’m No Angel. In these films, she played sexually assertive women who were not afraid to talk about sex in their movies.

The film industry of the 1920s and 1930s brought great changes to Hollywood. For example, Mae West helped change how women were depicted in movies and how they carried themselves onscreen.

Here are some quotes that will give you a better idea of the witty and stunningly sexy goddess from her era:

63 Inspirational Mae West Quotes

1. “He who hesitates is a damned fool.” ~ Mae West

2. “I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond.” ~ Mae West

3. “No one can have everything, so you have to try for what you want most.” ~ Mae West

4. “An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises.” ~ Mae West

5. “I never loved another person the way I loved myself.” ~ Mae West

6. “Never ask a man where he has been.” ~ Mae West

7. “Love thy neighbor – and if he happens to be tall, debonair and devastating, it will be that much easier.” ~ Mae West

8. “I’ve been in more laps than a napkin.” ~ Mae West

9. “When women go wrong, men go right after them.” ~ Mae West

10. “I’m no model lady. A model’s just an imitation of the real thing.” ~ Mae West

11. “To err is human, but it feels divine.” ~ Mae West

12. “Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere.” ~ Mae West

13. “I speak two languages, Body and English.” ~ Mae West

14. “The score never interested me, only the game.” ~ Mae West

15. “Don’t keep a man guessing too long – he’s sure to find the answer somewhere else.” ~ Mae West

16. “I only read biographies, metaphysics and psychology. I can dream up my own fiction.” ~ Mae West

17. “Keep a diary, and someday it’ll keep you.” ~ Mae West

18. “I’ve no time for broads who want to rule the world alone. Without men, who’d do up the zipper on the back of your dress? ” ― Mae West

19. “I only have ‘yes’ men around me. Who needs ‘no’ men?” – Mae West

20. “A hard man is good to find.” ~ Mae West

21. “You are never too old to become younger!” ~ Mae West

22. “A woman in love can’t be reasonable–or she probably wouldn’t be in love.” ~ Mae West

23. “Getting married is like trading in the adoration of many for the sarcasm of one.” ~ Mae West

24. “Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly.” ~ Mae West

25. “Women like a man with a past, but they prefer a man with a present.” ~ Mae West

26. “When I’m good, I’m very good. But when I’m bad I’m better.” ~ Mae West

27. “It’s hard to be funny when you have to be clean.” ~ Mae West

28. “The finest woman that ever walked the streets.” ~ Mae West

29. “I’m single because I was born that way.” ~ Mae West

30. “I believe that it’s better to be looked over than it is to be overlooked.” ~ Mae West

31. “In my long and colorful career, one thing stands out: I have been misunderstood.” ~ Mae West

32. “She’s the kind of girl who climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong.” ~ Mae West

33. “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” ~ Mae West

34. “Men are my hobby, if I ever got married I’d have to give it up.” ~ Mae West

35. “I’ll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure.” ~ Mae West

36. “His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.” ~ Mae West

37. “When I’m good I’m very, very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better.” ~ Mae West

38. “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.” ~ Mae West

39. “If a little is great, and a lot is better, then way too much is just about right!” ~ Mae West

40. “Poor Mary Ann! She gave the guy an inch and now he thinks he’s a ruler.” ~ Mae West

41. “Virtue has its own reward, but no sale at the box office.” ~ Mae West

42. “There are no good girls gone wrong – just bad girls found out.” ~ Mae West

43. “A dame that knows the ropes isn’t likely to get tied up.” ~ Mae West

44. “I have found men who didn’t know how to kiss. I’ve always found time to teach them.” ~ Mae West

45. “Every man I meet wants to protect me. I can’t figure out what from.” ~ Mae West

46. “Keep a diary and one day it’ll keep you.” ~ Mae West

47. “A man can be short and dumpy and getting bald but if he has fire, women will like him.” ~ Mae West

48. “I’m a woman of very few words, but lots of action.” ~ Mae West

49. “When in doubt take a bath” ~ Mae West

50. “Don’t marry a man to reform him – that’s what reform schools are for.” ~ Mae West

51. “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

52. “For a long time I was ashamed of the way I lived. Did I reform, you ask? No. I’m not ashamed anymore.” ~ Mae West

53. “Women with pasts interest men because they hope history will repeat itself.” ~ Mae West

54. “Cultivate your curves – they may be dangerous but they won’t be avoided.” ~ Mae West

55. “Personality is the glitter that sends your little gleam across the footlights and the orchestra pit into that big black space where the audience is.” ~ Mae West

56. “I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it.” ~ Mae West

57. “Everyone has the right to run his own life- even if you’re heading for a crash. What I’m against is blind flying.” ~ Mae West

58. “You gotta get up early in the morning to catch a fox and stay up late at night to get a mink.” ~ Mae West

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

60. “Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often.” ~ Mae West

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

62. “Sex is an emotion in motion.” ~ Mae West

63. “I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it.” ~ Mae West

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