Skip to main content

Daily Inspiration Quote by Loretta Young

"Of course, it was Mamma who both stopped my career and crystallized my determination to resume it"

About this Quote

The line lands like a neatly pinned hatpin: polite on the surface, sharp underneath. Loretta Young packages a lifetime of Hollywood push-and-pull into a sentence that refuses to choose between gratitude and accusation. “Of course” is the tell. It’s breezy, almost dismissive, as if everyone already knows the score: in her world, a mother’s influence isn’t a twist, it’s the default machinery of a young woman’s life.

The verb pairing does the real work. “Stopped” is blunt, career-as-motion halted by an external hand; “crystallized” is elegant, almost chemical, turning diffuse ambition into something hard and faceted. Young isn’t just describing obstruction. She’s describing a paradox: the same authority that enforced limits also forged her will to outgrow them. That’s the subtext of so many studio-era narratives, where family, church, and the public-relations “good girl” persona policed women’s choices while also providing the moral scaffolding that made their eventual defiance feel justified, even virtuous.

Context matters here because “Mamma” isn’t merely a parent; it’s a role, an institution. Young’s image was famously disciplined, her private life tightly managed in a period when women’s reputations were currency. The quote reads like a controlled confession: she acknowledges control without sounding unfilial, and she claims agency without sounding rebellious. It’s a masterclass in star-era self-authorship, where you tell the truth in a way that still protects the brand.

Quote Details

TopicMother
SourceHelp us find the source
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Young, Loretta. (2026, February 18). Of course, it was Mamma who both stopped my career and crystallized my determination to resume it. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/of-course-it-was-mamma-who-both-stopped-my-career-75906/

Chicago Style
Young, Loretta. "Of course, it was Mamma who both stopped my career and crystallized my determination to resume it." FixQuotes. February 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/of-course-it-was-mamma-who-both-stopped-my-career-75906/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Of course, it was Mamma who both stopped my career and crystallized my determination to resume it." FixQuotes, 18 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/of-course-it-was-mamma-who-both-stopped-my-career-75906/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Loretta Add to List
Mamma's Influence on Loretta Young's Career Path
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

Loretta Young

Loretta Young (January 6, 1913 - August 12, 2000) was a Actress from USA.

47 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes