Lauren Bacall Quotes

I felt sidelined by the industry, by the preoccupation with finding something newer, younger.

I think, being an actress, you know that you're getting old. I'm 44. I mean, an agent said when I turned 40, "It won't get better."

Just because you’ve only been alive for fifteen years doesn’t mean you’re less anything except old. That’s all it means. It doesn’t mean you’re less experienced. It doesn’t mean you’re less intelligent. It doesn’t mean you’re less sensitive. It doesn’t mean you take things less seriously. It’s like, these are younger human beings, meaning don’t, because they’re only ten, start thinking that they don’t know what you’re talking about -because they do. Don’t leave people out in the cold, and don’t talk down to people -don’t. It never works out.

They told me my services were no longer desired because they wanted to put in a youth program as an advance way of keeping the club going. I'll never make the mistake of being seventy again.

In America, the old are neglected.

In an ageing society, it makes sense to support older adults to develop new skills, prolonging their working lives.

Who's to say I can't find some great work when I'm 55 or 65?

America doesn't reward people of my age, either in day-to-day life or for their performances.

It seems to me that most things that are being made are designed for young people. There aren't that many depictions of melancholic older people, even though they form a growing proportion of the population.

I'm hardly Hollywood material - they're interested in youth and perfection and I lay no claims to either. It's not a place that's particularly interested in talent.

I actually think the whole concept of retirement is a bit stupid, so yes, I do want to do something else. There is this strange thing that just because chronologically on a Friday night you have reached a certain age... with all that experience, how can it be that on a Monday morning, you are useless?

I think America may be growing up and accepting the fact that the bulk of life exists beyond 50. Because demographically... the vast population is over 50.

The fact of the matter is that we're all aging, and there's this stigma that older actresses don't work as much as younger actresses, and I don't think that's true anymore.

Talented people are written off once they hit their 50s and 60s, and the saddest thing is, we just get better as we get older.

Work ethic has always been stressed in my family. My dad is going to be 80 years old and he still works part time. My mom just retired a couple years ago and she's in her mid- to late 70s.

I don't buy into you're on the slag heap when you're 40 or 50 or 60 or 70 or whatever.

There are companies around today who will not hire over age 40, will not train after age 50 and who don’t want you around after age 60.

I am increasingly conscious of the plight in which men and women over forty who need work are finding themselves. …. It seems to me ludicrous that this situation should exist for at forty a man or woman should be at their best and have experience and poise and patience all of which should make meeting certain problems of work easier.

You just don't go out when you're over 55 years of age, have a colossal failure, and expect to find work in your field again.

I don't mind being older. I'm proud of my age. I've achieved a lot. It's the same thing with Mick and the Stones. They should be revered and respected. Isn't it strange that now we're living longer we have so much less respect for old age? Perhaps it's a less valuable commodity?

People are marked down for their age - once you get past 30, people look at you a bit funny. When you get to 35, the questions are all, 'When are you going to stop?' Calm down!

When I turned 50, I truly felt I was too old to work in Silicon Valley. No one said anything to my face, but when you can be the mother of some of the people you're interviewing with, that says it all.

The roles do get fewer as you get older. That's the same for all professions, there's fewer roles for people later in life. I don't think it should be like that because as long as you are able to do your job then people should keep working with you. It shouldn't come down to age.

If you're good enough, you're old enough: that's what everyone says. When a talented young player emerges, his age doesn't matter; people want to see him in the team. So why, when you become older, is the assumption that you are no longer good enough?

The truth is, Silicon Valley doesn't like people who are older, and they're not that much of a friend of the woman. I certainly was a woman, and I was older.