59 Betty White Quotes to Celebrate What Would Have Been Her 100th Birthday

On December 31, 2021, television icon and American sweetheart, Betty White died at the age of 99. Today, January 17, would have been her 100th birthday. To honor her memory, we decided to round up some of the best Betty White quotes. These gems range from earnest to funny and each one seems to capture what made actress and producer such a legendary figure.

From hilarious Betty White quotes about “balls” to sentiments about her love of animals, the comedy hero left no stone unturned. She spoke extensively about her eight-decades-long career, aging into the senior years, and shared her professional insights on humor, the art of television, and so much more. If you’d like to celebrate the spirit of one of America’s most beloved figures, take a look at some photos from her decorated life as well some of her most beloved quotes. We love you, Betty!

Betty White Quotes About Humor

• “If one has no sense of humor, one is in trouble.”
• “Laughter keeps everyone feeling wonderful.”
• “I just laugh. Have I got them fooled.”

Betty White Quotes About Her Brand of Humor

• “I know it sounds corny, but I try to see the funny side and the upside, not the downside. I get bored with people who complain about this or that. It’s such a waste of time.”
• “Well, I mean, if a joke or humor is bawdy, it’s got to be funny enough to warrant it. You can’t just have it bawdy or dirty just for the sake of being that – it’s got to be funny.”
• “Humor is like music. It’s a rhythm, and you just kind of get the rhythm of it, and you have to know not to let the beat go too long, but to leave a beat in there for it to gel, you know.”

Betty White Quotes About Life

• “I just make it my business to get along with people so I can have fun. It’s that simple.” 
• “I think everybody needs a passion. Whether it’s one passion or a hundred, that’s what keeps life interesting.
• “You can lie to anyone in the world and even get away with it, perhaps, but when you are alone and look into your own eyes in the mirror, you can’t sidestep the truth. Always be sure you can meet those eyes directly. Otherwise, it’s big trouble, my girl.”

Betty White Quotes on Living Right

• “It’s your outlook on life that counts. If you take yourself lightly and don’t take yourself too seriously, pretty soon you can find the humor in our everyday lives. And sometimes it can be a lifesaver.” 
• “I know unless I’m true to myself I couldn’t be happy. Too much emphasis is placed today on externals and too little on character.” 
• “I was blessed with a mother and father who said taste the good stuff now and realize how fortunate and how wonderful things are this minute because enough minutes are not wonderful that you have to save up all the good ones to make it balance out.”

Betty White Quotes About Living Your Best Life

• “You know people who are already saying, ‘I’m going to be 30 – oh, what am I going to do?’ Well, use that decade! Use them all!”
• “Friendship takes time and energy if it’s going to work. You can luck into something great, but it doesn’t last if you don’t give it proper appreciation.”
• “There’s no formula. Keep busy with your work and your life. Keep the person in your heart all the time. Replay the good times. Be grateful for the years you had.”

Learn to Live Like the GOAT with These Betty White Quotes

• “I just care what kind of a decent human being you are.”
• “Keep the other person’s well-being in mind when you feel an attack of soul-purging truth coming on.”
• “If you’re walking with your lady on the sidewalk, I still like to see a man walking street-side, to protect the lady from traffic … I still like to see that a man opens the door. I like those touches of chivalry that are fast disappearing.”

Betty White Quotes to Live By

• “You don’t luck into integrity. You work at it.” 
• “It is important that you not believe your own publicity. Be grateful for whatever praise you receive, but take it with a grain of salt.”
• “I have no regrets at all. None. I consider myself to be the luckiest old broad on two feet.”

Words of Wisdom In These Betty White Quotes

• “Keep busy and don’t focus everything on you, that wears off pretty fast. It’s not hard to find things you’re interested in, but enjoy them and indulge them.” 
• “I don’t know how people can get so anti-something. Mind your own business, take care of your affairs, and don’t worry about other people so much.”
• “Kindness and consideration of somebody besides yourself. I think that keeps you feeling young. I really do.” 

RELATED: Days Before Her Death, Betty White Joked Ryan Reynolds Still Had A Crush On Her

Betty White Quotes About Her Career

• “The audience today has heard every joke. They know every plot … It’s much more competitive now because the audience is so much more … I want to say ‘sophisticated.’”
• “It’s fun once in a while to do a serious part but I really enjoy doing comedy because I love to laugh.”
• “Doing drama is, in a sense, easier. In doing comedy, if you don’t get that laugh, there’s something wrong.”
• “Retirement is not in my vocabulary. They aren’t going to get rid of me that way.”

Betty White Quotes About Her Illustrious Career

• “I didn’t choose to have children because I’m focused on my career. And I just don’t think, as compulsive as I am, that I could manage both.”
• “I think I’ve been spoiled enough, don’t you think? Might as well quit while I’m ahead! But I’m not going to quit, that’s for sure.”
• “It’s been phenomenal, but everybody keeps congratulating me on my resurgence and my big comeback. I haven’t been away, guys. I’ve been working steadily for the last 63 years.” 
• “I’m in the acting business. That’s the ego business. When you get offers, the way things are going now you’ve gotta enjoy it. You’ve gotta take time to taste it, and appreciate it and make the most of it.”

Betty White Quotes About Aging

• “You’re never too old for anything.” 
• “I had no idea that I would still be around at this point for one thing, but that I’d still be privileged enough to still be in this business.” 
• People have told me ‘Betty, Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with old friends…’ At my age, if I wanted to keep in touch with old friends, I’d need a Ouija board.”
• “My philosophy for staying young is [to] act bubbly every day, drink bubbly every birthday!”

Betty White Quotes About Getting Older

• “I do mental exercises. I don’t have any trouble memorizing lines because of the crossword puzzles I do every day to keep my mind a little limber.”
• “My mother always used to say, ‘The older you get, the better you get. Unless you’re a banana.’”
• “I don’t seem to require a lot of sleep… If I get four, five good hours, I’m fine. But sleeping is sort of dull. There’s a lot of other good stuff that you can do without just lying down and closing your eyes.”
• “I think older women still have a full life.”

Betty White Quotes That Prove She Never Let Age Stop Her

•  “I may be a senior, but so what? I’m still hot.”
• “One thing they don’t tell you about growing old – you don’t feel old, you just feel like yourself. And it’s true. I don’t feel eighty-nine years old. I simply am eighty-nine years old.”
• “However, if one is lucky enough to be blessed with good health, growing older shouldn’t be something to complain about. It’s not a surprise, we knew it was coming—make the most of it. So you may not be as fast on your feet, and the image in your mirror may be a little disappointing, but if you are still functioning and not in pain, gratitude should be the name of the game.”
• “Best thing about being in your 90s is you’re spoiled rotten. Everybody spoils you like mad, and they treat you with such respect because you’re old. Little do they know, you haven’t changed. You haven’t changed in [the brain]. You’re just 90 everyplace else.”

Even More, Betty White Quotes About Age Being Just a Number

• “Why retire from something if you’re loving it so much and enjoying it so much … What would I do with myself?”
• “Don’t try to be young. Just open your mind. Stay interested in stuff. There are so many things I won’t live long enough to find out about, but I’m still curious about them.”
• “Does desire melt away with age? I’m waiting for that day to come.” 
• “Now that I’m 91, as opposed to being 90, I’m much wiser. I’m much more aware and I’m much sexier.”

Betty White Quotes About Animals

• “I stayed in show business to pay for my animal business.”
• “When I’m around animals, I don’t pay attention to people.”
• “Animals don’t lie. Animals don’t criticize. If animals have moody days, they handle them better than humans do.”
• “You can always tell about somebody by the way they put their hands on an animal.”
• “Animal lover that I am, a cougar I am not.”

Funny Betty White Quotes

• “I’m a health nut. My favorite food is hot dogs with French fries. And my exercise: I have a two-story house and a very bad memory, so I’m up and down those stairs.”
• “I’ve always liked older men. They’re just more attractive to me. Of course, at my age, there aren’t that many left!”
• “Why do people say ‘grow some balls?’ Balls are weak and sensitive. If you wanna be tough, grow a vagina. Those things can take a pounding.”

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More Funny and Potent Betty White Quotes

• “Butterflies are like women – we may look pretty and delicate, but baby, we can fly through a hurricane.”
• “Still here, b*****s.”
• “I’m a teenager trapped in an old body.”

There you go! We hope these Betty White quotes filled you with a sense of her totality. They are revealing morsels and insights into her comedic genius as well as her wisdom for a long life and career. There will never be another Betty White but we can remember her, in part, by the words she shared.