50 Hedy Lamarr Quotes about Life, Love, and Stardom

Hedy Lamarr was one of the biggest stars during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She was also an artist and a total genius. We hope you enjoy these Hedy Lamarr quotes about life, love, and stardom.

Known as “the most beautiful woman in film,” Hedy Lamarr was born in Austria in 1914. She began starring in Austrian films at the age of 17 and soon caught the attention of Hollywood.

In 1932, she signed a contract with MGM and immigrated to America where she would soon become one of the most sought-after actresses of her time.

Hedy wasn’t just beautiful and talented, she was also incredibly smart and an inventor. In 1942, she co-invented the “Secret Communication System” with Hollywood composer George Antheil. This system proved to be very important to military communication as well as the eventual invention of the cell phone.

Don’t forget to also check out these Katharine Hepburn quotes on love and marriage.

Hedy Lamarr quotes about men

1. “Men are most virile and most attractive between the ages of 35 and 55. Under 35 a man has too much to learn, and I don’t have time to teach him.” — Hedy Lamarr

2. “Dirt makes a man look masculine. Let your hair blow in the wind, and all that. It’s OK. All you have to do is look neat when you have to look neat.” — Hedy Lamarr

3. “I am not ashamed to say that no man I ever met was my father’s equal, and I never loved any other man as much.” — Hedy Lamarr

4. “I have always felt that if a man gives you a solid gold key to his door he is entitled to the courtesy of a visit.” — Hedy Lamarr

5. “Some men like a dull life – they like the routine of eating breakfast, going to work, coming home, petting the dog, watching TV, kissing the kids, and going to bed. Stay clear of it – it’s often catching.” — Hedy Lamarr

6. “I have never seen a wrestling match or a prize fight, and I don’t want to. When I find out a man is interested in these sports, I drop him.” — Hedy Lamarr

7. “I enjoy countless hundreds pursuing me. I love those who love me the most. I am sort of flattered by men showing attention to me.” — Hedy Lamarr

8. “American men, as a group, seem to be interested in only two things, money, and breasts. It seems a very narrow outlook.” — Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr quotes about relationships

9. “I must quit marrying men who feel inferior to me. Somewhere there must be a man who could be my husband and not feel inferior.” — Hedy Lamarr

10. “It’s funny about men and women. Men pay in cash to get them and pay in cash to get rid of them. Women pay emotionally coming and going. Neither has it easy.” — Hedy Lamarr

11. “I’ve been an important star and lived a full life, yet I only have three close friends. I guess that’s all anyone can expect.” — Hedy Lamarr

12. “Dates with actors, finally, just seemed to me evenings of shop talk. I got sick of it after a while. So the more famous I became, the more I narrowed down my choices.” — Hedy Lamarr

13. “Lawyers know how to take isolated complaints in a divorce case and build them into one big one.” — Hedy Lamarr

14. “I find very often that very ugly women have really handsome men and vice versa because they don’t have any competition. Sometimes handsome men have avoided me.” — Hedy Lamarr

15. “When I attained a certain advanced intimacy with a man, and I don’t just mean sex, I married him.” — Hedy Lamarr

16. “All my six husbands married me for different reasons.” — Hedy Lamarr

17. “I don’t have any gnawing guilt over contributing to any unhappiness suffered by my husbands. They were as much to blame as I was.” — Hedy Lamarr

18. “Perhaps my problem in marriage-and it is the problem of many women-was to want both intimacy and independence. It is a difficult line to walk, yet both needs are important to a marriage.” — Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr quotes about art

19. “A good painting to me has always been like a friend. It keeps me company, comforts and inspires.” — Hedy Lamarr

20. “All creative people want to do the unexpected.” — Hedy Lamarr

21. “I’m a sworn enemy of convention. I despise the conventional in anything, even the arts.” — Hedy Lamarr

22. “I paint canvasses on the floor and drove one art teacher out of his mind. But that’s just the way I paint best.” — Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr quotes about life

23. “I don’t fear death because I don’t fear anything I don’t understand. When I start to think about it, I order a massage and it goes away.” — Hedy Lamarr

24. “I’ve met the most interesting people while flying or on a boat. These methods of travel seem to attract the kind of people I want to be with.” — Hedy Lamarr

25. “The unknown was always so attractive to me…and still is.” — Hedy Lamarr

26. “Hope & curiosity about the future seemed better than guarantees.” — Hedy Lamarr

27. “Compromise and tolerance are magic words. It took me 40 years to become philosophical.” — Hedy Lamarr

28. “Jack Kennedy always said to me, Hedy, get involved. That’s the secret of life. Try everything. Join everything. Meet everybody.” — Hedy Lamarr

29. “I was in constant demand, in my professional life and my personal life.” — Hedy Lamarr

30. “I was born an only child in Vienna, Austria. My father found hours to sit by me by the library fire and tell fairy stories.” — Hedy Lamarr

31. “I never go to funerals. To me, a person is dead when he breathes for the last time. After that, your memories should be personal.” — Hedy Lamarr

32. “I don’t believe in life after death. But I do believe in some grinding destiny that watches over us on earth. If I didn’t, the safety valve would give and the boiler would explode.” — Hedy Lamarr

33. “I can excuse everything but boredom. Boring people don’t have to stay that way.” — Hedy Lamarr

34. “I have not been that wise. Health I have taken for granted. Love I have demanded, perhaps too much and too often. As for money, I have only realized its true worth when I didn’t have it.” — Hedy Lamarr

35. “If I were to name my favorite pastime, I’d have to say talking about myself. I love it and I think most other people do too. We need, people like us, more listeners and less talkers.” — Hedy Lamarr

36. “Because you don’t live near a bakery doesn’t mean you have to go without cheesecake.” — Hedy Lamarr

37. “I would tell anyone who wants something from someone else to feign not wanting it. People are perverse. If you show great affection to them, they’ll run the other way.” — Hedy Lamarr

38. “I advise everybody not to save: spend your money. Most people save all their lives and leave it to somebody else. Money is to be enjoyed.” — Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr quotes on being a star

39. “To be a star is to own the world and all the people in it. After a taste of stardom, everything else is poverty.” — Hedy Lamarr

40. “The ladder of success in Hollywood is usually a press agent, actor, director, producer, leading man; and you are a star if you sleep with each of them in that order. Crude, but true.” — Hedy Lamarr

41. “Let any pretty girl announce a divorce in Hollywood and the wolves come running. Fresh meat for the beast and they are always hungry.” — Hedy Lamarr

42. “I remember all too well the premiere of Ecstasy when I watched my bare bottom bounce across the screen and my mother and father sat there in shock.” — Hedy Lamarr

43. “Making pictures, for an actress, is like betting, for a gambler. Each time you make a picture you try to analyze why you won or lost.” — Hedy Lamarr

44. “I know when I’m working I seldom get into trouble. My educated guess is that boredom has caused most of the problems with Hollywood celebrities.” — Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr quotes about confidence and beauty

45. “Analysis gave me great freedom of emotions and fantastic confidence. I felt I had served my time as a puppet.” — Hedy Lamarr

46. “My mother always called me an ugly weed, so I never was aware of anything until I was older. Plain girls should have someone telling them they are beautiful. Sometimes this works miracles.” — Hedy Lamarr

47. “I’d rather wear jewels in my hair than anywhere else. The face should have the advantage of this brilliance.” — Hedy Lamarr

48. “Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid.” — Hedy Lamarr

49. “All a woman needs is a good bath, clean clothes, and for her hair to be combed. These things she can do herself. I very seldom go to the hairdresser, but when I do, I just marvel.” — Hedy Lamarr

50. “Confidence is something you’re born with. I know I had loads of it even at the age of 15.” — Hedy Lamarr

What did you think of these Hedy Lamarr quotes?

Known for her acting and beauty, Hedy was much more than just a force to be reckoned with on-screen.

Before she moved to America, Hedy left an abusive marriage with a man named Fritz Mandl. During their marriage, Hedy was forced to be “an object of art,” something for men to look at but without the freedom to have a mind of her own.

Mandl would host dinner pirates and many of Mandl’s attendees were members of the Nazi party. Hedy’s fly on the wall status left her to an advantage to learn about various weaponry that the Nazi’s would use in World War II.

When Hedy moved to the United States, she used this knowledge to help her and Antheil invent their communication system, which allowed “frequency hopping.” This system prevented the interception of radio waves, allowing torpedoes to hit their mark. Ultimately, the Navy decided against using Hedy’s system, however, the technology would later be used to help in the invention of cell phones.

Did you enjoy these Hedy Lamarr quotes and sayings? Which quote was your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.