A biography for Ethel Barrymorehasn’t been written yet.
“For an actress to be a success, she must have the face of a Venus, the brains of a Minerva, the grace of Terpsichore, the memory of a MaCaulay, the figure of Juno, and the hide of a rhinoceros.”
“I never let them cough. They wouldn't dare.”
“Our achievements speak for themselves. What we have to keep track of are our failures, discouragements and doubts. We tend to forget the past difficulties, the many false starts, and the painful groping.”
“When life knocks you to your knees, and it will, why, get up! If it knocks you to your knees again, as it will, well, isn't that the best position from which to pray?”
“The arts are not just instantaneous pleasure - if you don't like it, the artist is wrong. I belong to the generation which says if you don't like it, you don't understand and you ought to find out.”
“You grow up the day you have the first real laugh at yourself.”
“That's all there is; there isn't any more.”
“You must learn day by day, year by year to broaden your horizon. The more things you love, the more you are interested in, the more you enjoy, the more you are indignant about, the more you have left when anything happens.”
“The face of Garbo is an Idea, that of Hepburn an Event.”
“Fundamentally I feel that there is as much difference between the stage and the films as between a piano and a violin. Normally you can't become a virtuoso in both.”
“The best time to make friends is before you need them.”
“The great actors are the luminous ones. They are the great conductors of the stage.”