Mae West, born Mary Jane West (1893-1980), was a groundbreaking American stage and film actress known for her frank sensuality, languid demeanor and quick-witted remarks.
West’s portrayals typically reflected women who embraced their lives of dubious virtue with a humorous nonchalance.
She began her career in a Brooklyn stock company in 1901, eventually performing on the national vaudeville circuit and making her Broadway debut in 1911.
In 1926, West started writing, producing and starring in her own plays, causing sensations and even earning a brief jail sentence.
Moving to Hollywood in 1932, she delivered memorable performances in films like “Night After Night” (1932), “She Done Him Wrong” (1933) and “I’m No Angel” (1933).
During WWII, her hourglass figure inspired the name for inflatable life jackets used by Allied soldiers—”Mae Wests”.
Related: Lucille Ball Quotes from the Iconic Hollywood Actress and Sidney Poitier Quotes from the Hollywood Icon
West’s career, marked by her ability to challenge social attitudes, particularly towards sex, left an indelible impact on the entertainment industry.
I have outlined some of the popular quotes from Mae West for you.
Best Mae West Quotes
Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere. ~ Mae West.
Ladies who play with fire must remember that smoke gets in their eyes. ~ Mae West.
Women like a man with a past, but they prefer a man with a present. ~ Mae West.
Never mind about the six feet. Let’s talk about the seven inches. ~ Mae West.
A man’s kiss is his signature. ~ Mae West.
When you get the personality, you don’t need the nudity. ~ Mae West.
Love conquers all things except poverty and toothache. ~ Mae West.
The curve is more powerful than the sword. ~ Mae West.
I’m no angel, but I’ve spread my wings a bit. ~ Mae West.
A good man is hard to find – but you’ll mostly find him asleep. ~ Mae West.
Don’t keep a man guessing too long – he’s sure to find the answer somewhere else. ~ Mae West.
Let’s get out of these wet clothes and into a dry Martini… ~ Mae West.
Getting married is like trading in the adoration of many for the sarcasm of one. ~ Mae West.
Ten men waiting for me at the door? Send one of them home, I’m tired. ~ Mae West.
Cultivate your curves – they may be dangerous but they won’t be avoided. ~ Mae West.
Come up and see me sometime. ~ Mae West.
I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it. ~ Mae West.
Top Mae West Quotes
The score never interested me, only the game. ~ Mae West.
I’m single because I was born that way. ~ Mae West.
Well behaved women do not make history. ~ Mae West.
Love isn’t an emotion or an instinct – it’s an art. ~ Mae West.
Don’t cry for a man who’s left you – the next one may fall for your smile. ~ Mae West.
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.
A man has one hundred dollars and you leave him with two dollars, that’s subtraction. ~ Mae West.
He’s the kind of man a woman would have to marry to get rid of. ~ Mae West.
The best way to behave is to misbehave. ~ Mae West.
Sex with love is the greatest thing in life. But sex without love – that’s not so bad either. ~ Mae West.
The best way to learn to be a lady is to see how other ladies do it. ~ Mae West.
His mother should have thrown him out and kept the stork. ~ Mae West.
I’m no model lady. A model’s just an imitation of the real thing. ~ Mae West.
Inspirational Mae West Quotes
Flattery will get you everywhere. ~ Mae West.
Love is what you make it and who you make it with. ~ Mae West.
Good sex is like good bridge. If you don’t have a good partner, you’d better have a good hand. ~ Mae West.
Too much of a good thing can be wonderful. ~ Mae West.
Save a boyfriend for a rainy day – and another, in case it doesn’t rain. ~ Mae West.
When I’m good, I’m very good. But when I’m bad I’m better. ~ Mae West.
Dating means two things; disillusionment or a racing heart. ~ Mae West.
You gotta get up early in the morning to catch a fox and stay up late at night to get a mink. ~ Mae West.
I’m a woman of very few words, but lots of action. ~ Mae West.
Marriage is a fine institution, but I’m not ready for an institution. ~ Mae West.
I only like two kinds of men, domestic and imported. ~ Mae West.
Give a man a free hand and he’ll run it all over you. ~ Mae West.
A man has more character in his face at forty than at twenty – he has suffered longer. ~ Mae West.
Goodness had nothing to do with it. ~ Mae West.
Thoughtful Mae West Quotes
Don’t ever make the same mistake twice unless it pays. ~ Mae West.
You are never too old to become younger! ~ Mae West.
Brains are an asset, if you hide them. ~ Mae West.
I always say, keep a diary and someday it’ll keep you. ~ Mae West.
I freely chose the kind of life I led because I was convinced that a woman has as much right as a man to live the way she does if she does no actual harm to society. ~ Mae West.
It’s not what you say, but how you say it! ~ Mae West.
Positive thoughts generate positive feelings and attract positive life experiences. You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. ~ Mae West.
I like my clothes tight enough to show I’m a woman, but loose enough to show I’m a lady. ~ Mae West.
Some of the wildest men make the best pets. ~ Mae West.
I consider sex a misdemeanor, the more I miss, de meaner I get. ~ Mae West.
I like a man who’s good, but not too good – for the good die young, and I hate a dead one. ~ Mae West.
Women want certain things in marriage – the right to a title and a front seat in the lap of luxury. ~ Mae West.
A hard man is good to find. ~ Mae West.
Wise Mae West Quotes
To err is human, but it feels divine. ~ Mae West.
I used to be Snow White, but I drifted. ~ Mae West.
It is better to be looked over than overlooked. ~ Mae West.
I wrote the story myself. It’s about a girl who lost her reputation and never missed it. ~ Mae West.
If I asked for a cup of coffee, someone would search for the double meaning. ~ Mae West.
Sex is emotion in motion. ~ Mae West.
Brains are an asset to the woman in love who’s smart enough to hide ’em. ~ Mae West.
I’ll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure. ~ Mae West.
Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? ~ Mae West.
Do not marry a man to reform him. That is what reform schools are for. ~ Mae West.
Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly. ~ Mae West.
He who hesitates is a damned fool. ~ Mae West.
Well, the end of another busy day. I can’t wait till I get back to bed. If that don’t work I’ll try to sleep. ~ Mae West.
It’s not what you can do, but the way you do it that counts. ~ Mae West.
Famous Mae West Quotes
Women are as old as they feel and men are old when they lose their feelings. ~ Mae West.
Men are my hobby, if I ever got married I’d have to give it up. ~ Mae West.
It’s all right for a perfect stranger to kiss your hand as long as he’s perfect. ~ Mae West.
Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before. ~ Mae West.
When in doubt take a bath. ~ Mae West.
Men are like linoleum floors. Lay ’em right and you can walk all over them for years. ~ Mae West.
Money is of value for what it buys, and in love it buys time, place, intimacy, comfort, and a private corner alone. ~ Mae West.
Inspiring Mae West Quotes
A woman in love can’t be reasonable – or she probably wouldn’t be in love. ~ Mae West.
It’s not the men in your life that matters, it’s the life in your men. ~ Mae West.
Women are like roads. The more curves they have, the more dangerous they are. ~ Mae West.
I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond. ~ Mae West.
An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises. ~ Mae West.
I have never loved a man as much as I have loved myself. ~ Mae West.
Love thy neighbor – and if he happens to be tall, debonair and devastating, it will be that much easier. ~ Mae West.
Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often. ~ Mae West.
Life’s just a merry-go-round. Come on up. You might get a brass ring. ~ Mae West.
Popular Mae West Quotes
We’re intellectual opposites. Well, I’m intellectual and you’re opposite. ~ Mae West.
When women go wrong, men go right after them. ~ Mae West.
Words should be used as tools of communication and not as a substitute for action. ~ Mae West.
Don’t let a man put anything over on you except an umbrella. ~ Mae West.
No one can have everything, so you have to try for what you want most. ~ Mae West.
A girl in the convertible is worth five in the phone book. ~ Mae West.
Everything’s in the mind. That’s where it all starts. Knowing what you want is the first step toward getting it. ~ Mae West.
A dame that knows the ropes isn’t likely to get tied up. ~ Mae West.
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.
Look your best – who said love is blind? ~ Mae West.
I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it. ~ Mae West.
Unique Mae West Quotes
You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. ~ Mae West.
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.
It’s hard to find a good man, but it’s good to find a hard one. ~ Mae West.
All discarded lovers should be given a second chance, but with somebody else. ~ Mae West.
I speak two languages, Body and English. ~ Mae West.
If a little is great, and a lot is better, then way too much is just about right! ~ Mae West.
There are no good girls gone wrong, just bad girls found out. ~ Mae West.
So these were the 105 top Mae West quotes on marriage, men, success and sex.
If you like these quotes and sayings, then you can also read my other posts on Toni Morrison quotes and Walt Whitman quotes.
