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Daily Inspiration Quote by Veronica Lake

"I've reached a point in my life where it's the little things that matter... I was always a rebel and probably could have got much farther had I changed my attitude. But when you think about it, I got pretty far without changing attitudes. I'm happier with that"

About this Quote

There is a quiet flex hiding inside Veronica Lake's apparent surrender to "the little things". In a business that packaged women as glossy, compliant fantasies, Lake frames contentment not as retreat but as a recalibration of what counts as winning. The ellipsis does real work: it slows the sentence into a sigh, the kind that lands only after you have fought the same fight too many times and finally decide you won't keep paying the fee.

Calling herself "a rebel" is both confession and brand management. Lake was famous for a look and a persona that sold cool detachment; here, she recasts what Hollywood likely labeled "difficult" into something closer to integrity. The line "probably could have got much farther had I changed my attitude" acknowledges the industry's transactional logic with disarming clarity: success is available, if you agree to be reshaped. She doesn't deny that deal exists; she refuses to romanticize it.

Then comes the pivot that sharpens the intent: "I got pretty far without changing attitudes". Not "my attitude" but "attitudes" - plural, broader, almost societal. It's a subtle jab at the people who expected adjustment, a reminder that the demand was never just personal polish but submission to a whole set of norms. The final sentence, "I'm happier with that", is less nostalgia than self-exoneration, a late-career insistence that a smaller legacy earned on your own terms can beat a bigger one bought with self-erasure.

Quote Details

TopicHappiness
SourceHelp us find the source
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Lake, Veronica. (n.d.). I've reached a point in my life where it's the little things that matter... I was always a rebel and probably could have got much farther had I changed my attitude. But when you think about it, I got pretty far without changing attitudes. I'm happier with that. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-reached-a-point-in-my-life-where-its-the-162245/

Chicago Style
Lake, Veronica. "I've reached a point in my life where it's the little things that matter... I was always a rebel and probably could have got much farther had I changed my attitude. But when you think about it, I got pretty far without changing attitudes. I'm happier with that." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-reached-a-point-in-my-life-where-its-the-162245/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I've reached a point in my life where it's the little things that matter... I was always a rebel and probably could have got much farther had I changed my attitude. But when you think about it, I got pretty far without changing attitudes. I'm happier with that." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-reached-a-point-in-my-life-where-its-the-162245/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.

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Veronica Lake on Rebellion, Integrity, and Small Joys
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About the Author

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Veronica Lake (November 14, 1919 - July 7, 1973) was a Actress from USA.

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