20 Perfect Lucille Ball Quotes That Will Inspire Your Inner Comedy Queen
Celebrate 'I Love Lucy' Day on October 15 the right way.
Lucille Ball is not only the reigning Queen of Comedy, but she is also a source of many funny — yet inspiring — quotes. Her comedic work helped paved the way for generations of women in comedy who would come after her.
We would not have female comedy greats like Carol Burnett, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Tina Fey if it wasn’t for Lucille Ball. She was the original.
Lucille Ball is most famous for her iconic role as Lucy Ricardo on the 1950’s sitcom I Love Lucy, which premiered on October 15, 1951 — exactly 67 years ago. Every episode centered around an inevitable predicament that Lucy would get herself into.
From dealing with an overwhelming conveyer belt of chocolates at a new job to stealing John Wayne’s footprints in Hollywood, nothing was off limits to Lucy Ricardo. The same can be said for the actress behind the character as well.
Lucille Ball would go above and beyond in her quest to make her comedy as great as possible. The more physical she could be, the better. She was known for her love of using props in her comedy work.
Take a trip down memory lane to see how much you remember about your favorite I Love Lucy moments:
Although Lucille Ball is a clear source of inspiration for today’s female comedians, her tenacity as a woman and artist can motivate people from all walks of life.
Lucille Ball was an aspiring actress in the entertainment business for 20 years before she found success with I Love Lucy. She started out as a model in New York City for fashion designer Hattie Carnegie and then went on to get a coveted spot as one of the “Goldwyn ” out in Hollywood. After that, Lucille worked her way up through the studio system, mostly starring in B movies.
Although she was working consistently, she had yet to make the leap into mainstream success.
Eventually, the stars aligned and she finally found her niche – and success - in television comedy.
RELATED: Women Are Just As Funny As Men, Says Study
Lucille’s willingness to not give up, along her incredible work ethic, is what has led to her becoming one of the most famous figures in entertainment.
Here are 20 of Lucille Ball's all-time best quotes and the best I Love Lucy quotes to help inspire your inner comedy queen.
1. Live life to the fullest!
"I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done." — Lucille Ball
2. Words of wisdom.
"The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age." — Lucille Ball
3. Stay positive and keep going.
"One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn't pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself." — Lucille Ball
4. Self-love.
"I have an everyday religion that works for me. Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world." — Lucille Ball
5. Shout out to the redheads.
"Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead." — Lucille Ball
6. So true.
"In life, all good things come hard, but wisdom is the hardest to come by." — Lucille Ball
7. Haha, exactly!
"A man who correctly guesses a woman's age may be smart, but he's not very bright." — Lucille Ball
8. Keep pushing yourself to try new things.
"The more things you do, the more you can do." — Lucille Ball
9. Hard work pays off.
"Luck? I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it and I'm afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: Hard work - and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't." — Lucille Ball
10. The joy of laughter.
"I'm happy that I have brought laughter because I have been shown by many the value of it in so many lives, in so many ways." — Lucille Ball
11. Be brave.
"I'm not funny. What I am is brave." — Lucille Ball
12. Embrace your strengths.
"I think knowing what you cannot do is more important than knowing what you can." — Lucille Ball
13. Stay humble in order to keep working to become better.
"I'm not sure that I want to be without some lack of confidence. If you are too sure of yourself, you don't grow. You may feel confident in some things, but other fields come up as a challenge. And if you don't anticipate trouble, you will be in trouble." — Lucille Ball
14. Follow your happiness.
"It's a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy." — Lucille Ball
15. It's important that we give people opportunities to succeed as well.
"Ability is of little account without opportunity." — Lucille Ball
16. The irony with children.
"You see much more of your children once they leave home." — Lucille Ball
17. Always witty.
"Women's Lib? Oh, I'm afraid it doesn't interest me one bit. I've been so liberated it hurts." — Lucille Ball
18. Life observations.
"I don't think you should write a book until you tell the absolute truth. You can't do that until you're 85, and I don't want to live that long. I've always prided myself on knowing when to get off, and I hope it works out that way." — Lucille Ball
19. Comedy lessons from the Queen.
“People either have comedy or they don't. You can't teach it to them.” — Lucille Ball
20. Don't worry about what others think.
"I cured myself of shyness when it finally occurred to me that people didn't think about me half as much as I gave them credit for. The truth was, nobody gave a damn. Like most teenagers, I was far too self-centered. When I stopped being prisoner to what I worried was others’ opinions of me, I became more confident and free.” — Lucille Ball
If you're searching for the best quotes and memes to share with the people you love (or just want to feel inspired yourself) ... look no further! From the sweetest love quotes, inspirational sayings, and hilarious friendship truths, we've got you covered.
Jill Zwarensteyn is a writer and Michigan native. When she's not writing about pop culture, quotes and trending topics, Jill enjoys Zumba class, travel, and referencing classic Seinfeld episodes.