- Lionel Barrymore first played my grandfather, later my father, and finally, he played my husband. If he'd lived, I'm sure I would have played his mother. That's the way it is in Hollywood. The men get younger and the women get older.
- I never approved of talkies. Silent movies were well on their way to developing an entirely new art form. It was not just pantomine, but something wonderfully expressive.
- Fans always write asking why I didn't smile more in films. I smiled in Annie Laurie (1927), but I can't recall that it helped much.
- Those little virgins, after five minutes you got sick of playing them--to make them more interesting was hard work.
- [1919] Marriage is a business. A woman cannot combine a career and marriage . . . I should not wish to unite the two.
- [1939] I believe that marriage is a career in itself. I have preferred a stage career to a marriage career.
- [after failing to receive a Best Actress nomination for The Whales of August (1987)] Oh, well. At least I won't have to lose to Cher.
- I don't care for modern films--all crashing cars and close-ups of people's feet.
- I've never been in style, so I can't go out of style.
- I can't remember a time when I wasn't acting, so I can't imagine what I would do if I stopped now.
- [on D.W. Griffith] He inspired in us his belief that we were working in a medium that was powerful enough to influence the whole world.
- [on Mary Pickford] It was always Mary herself that shone through. Her personality was the thing that made her movies memorable and the pictures that showed her personality were the best.
- [on D.W. Griffith] It's true, sometimes I called him "David". Even so, I might have said "David" but I always thought "Mr. Griffith". He was a born general. His voice was a voice of command. It was resonant, deep and full.
- I think the things that are necessary in my profession are these: Taste, Talent and Tenacity. I think I have had a little of all three.
- [on Richard Barthelmess] The most beautiful face of any man who went before the camera.
- [on Greta Garbo] Garbo's temperament reflected the rain and gloom of the long dark Swedish winters.
- [upon receiving an honorary Academy Award in 1971] Oh, all the charming ghosts I feel around me who should share this! It was our privilege for a little while to serve that beautiful thing, the film, and we never doubted for a moment that it was the most powerful thing, the mind and heartbeat of our technical century.
- [on why she acted in several comedies] I'm as funny as a barrel of dead babies.
- [on Bette Davis' insistence on receiving "top" billing for The Whales of August (1987)] Oh dear, I just can't deal with that sort of thing. I don't care what they do with my name. If they leave it off, so much the better. It's the work I love, not the glory.
- [speaking in 1987] I can't think why people are so fascinated with my age, when it bores me, I don't feel I'm old. I just feel I'm me. And I've always been a happy person. I love the human race. I love my work. I love the world - I've been around it four times, you know. And I'm a believing person. I believe in God, even though I can't see him. You can't see the air in this room, right? But take it away and you're dead. And I believe there's something for us after we die. The world isn't wasteful. It keeps going on and I think we do too.
- Hearts of the World (1918) enjoyed great success until the Armistice when people lost interest in war films. The film inflamed audiences. Its depiction of German brutality bordered on the absurd. Whenever a German came near me, he beat me or kicked me... I don't believe that Mr. Griffith ever forgave himself for making Hearts of the World. 'War is the villain,' he repeated, 'not any particular people.'
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