Ingrid Bergman
Birthdate: August 29, 1915
Birthplace: Stockholm, Sweden
Date of Death: August 29, 1982
Occupation: Actor
Profile: Regarded as the fourth greatest female actor of all time. Awarded three Academy Awards. Best known for
Casablanca.
Website: http://www.ingridbergman.com/
Number of Quotes: 37
A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.
Reflecting her romantic and practical nature.
A kiss is a secret told to the mouth instead of the ear; kisses are the messengers of love and tenderness.
Be yourself. The world worships the original.
Advice she often gave, emphasizing authenticity.
Cancer victims who don't accept their fate, who don't learn to live with it, will only destroy what little time they have left.
Happiness is good health and a bad memory.
One of her most famous and oft-repeated witticisms.
Here's looking at you, kid.
While spoken by her in Casablanca, this is scripted dialogue written by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and
Howard Koch. She did not originate it, but it's inseparable from her performance. Often misattributed to her personally.
I am an actress as long as I live; I will never stop acting.
Emphasizing her lifelong dedication to her craft.
I came from another country where I already was somebody. I didn't have to go through the stage of being a nobody.
On arriving in Hollywood with established European success.
I can do everything with ease on the stage, whereas in real life I feel too big and clumsy. So I didn't choose acting. It chose me.
I don't regret a thing I've done. I only regret the things I didn't do.
I don't regret anything I've ever done. As long as I enjoyed it at the time.
Reflecting her philosophy of living without regret, famously stated during the Rossellini scandal period.
I don't think anyone has the right to intrude in your life, but they do. I would like people to separate the actress and the woman.
I have grown up alone. I've taken care of myself. I worked, earned money and was independent at 18.
I have had my share of adventures, and I hope I will have some more.
I have no regrets. I wouldn't have lived my life the way I did if I was going to worry about what people were going to say.
A defining statement about her personal choices and independence.
I made so many films which were more important, but the only one people ever want to talk about is that
one with Bogart.
I never thought I was particularly beautiful. What is a beautiful face? An empty present.
Downplaying conventional beauty standards.
I remember one day sitting at the pool and suddenly the tears were streaming down my cheeks. Why
was I so unhappy? I had success. I had security. But it wasn't enough. I was exploding inside.
I was the shyest human ever invented, but I had a lion inside me that wouldn't shut up.
Describing the paradox of her immense talent overcoming personal shyness.
If you took acting away from me, I'd stop breathing.
Underlining the fundamental importance of acting to her existence.
It is not whether you really cry. It's whether the audience thinks you are crying.
On the technique and perception of acting.
It's terrible to become an institution.
Expressing a fear of being pigeonholed or losing vitality.
Keep it simple. Less is more.
Advice on acting and likely life.
My life didn't please me, so I created my life.
A powerful statement about taking control and shaping her own destiny.
Never again! I can see no reason for marriage - ever at all. I've had it. Three times is enough.
No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul.
On the unique power of cinema.
People saw me in Joan of Arc and declared me a saint. I'm not. I'm just a working woman.
Reacting to the public's saintly image of her after the role.
Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.
A philosophical take on contentment.
The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch with, never saying a word, and walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you've had.
On the value of quiet companionship.
The only thing I regret is that I will not be able to see the world anymore. That's the only regret. Everything else, I did what I wanted.
Stated near the end of her life, summing up her adventurous spirit and lack of regret.
There are advantages to being a star though - you can always get a table in a full restaurant.
Time is shortening. But every day that I challenge this cancer and survive is a victory for me.
To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up.
A witty observation on the effort required for authenticity.
Until 45 I can play a woman in love. After 55 I can play grandmothers. But between those ten years, it is difficult for an actress.
We walked into the garden; it was dark and very cold. We sat down on a stone bench. He took my hand and held it. And that was the moment I
fell in love with him. It had nothing to do with sex. It was a feeling of absolute peace and contentment. When I was with him, I was home.
Describing the moment she fell in love with Roberto Rossellini, from her autobiography.
You cannot imagine what it is like to be told every day of your life that you are beautiful. It drives you crazy.
On the burden of constant external focus on her appearance.
You must train your intuition—you must trust the small voice inside you which tells you exactly what to say, what to decide.
Advice on trusting one's inner self.
Last on Earth
