"I have to live with both my selves as best I may"
About this Quote
The line’s power is its plainness. No poetry, no glamour, just the grammar of coping: “have to,” “as best I may.” That phrasing strips away agency. This isn’t self-invention; it’s damage control. The “both” is doing the heavy lifting, suggesting a split that can’t be healed, only managed. One self is continuous and ordinary; the other is assembled by cameras, headlines, desire, and moral panic. Bardot became iconic in an era when celebrity was industrializing fast: postwar mass media, paparazzi, the sexual revolution, and a public eager to treat a woman’s body as both liberation symbol and civic problem.
Subtext: the public self isn’t merely a mask; it’s an occupying force. When she says “live with,” she implies cohabitation with something intrusive, like a roommate who never leaves. It also hints at why Bardot’s later retreat from acting and turn toward activism felt less like a career pivot than an escape attempt. The quote reads like a small, controlled confession from someone who learned early that fame doesn’t just amplify you; it duplicates you, then demands you answer for the copy.
Quote Details
| Topic | Self-Love |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Bardot, Brigitte. (2026, January 17). I have to live with both my selves as best I may. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-have-to-live-with-both-my-selves-as-best-i-may-44122/
Chicago Style
Bardot, Brigitte. "I have to live with both my selves as best I may." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-have-to-live-with-both-my-selves-as-best-i-may-44122/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I have to live with both my selves as best I may." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-have-to-live-with-both-my-selves-as-best-i-may-44122/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.







