People love to gossip. We say we don’t like it when people behave badly, but oh…do we LOVE to talk about it! Tabloids have made a fortune capitalizing on the love of celebrity gossip. The scandals, the drama, the all around bad behavior is a constant source of content for these publishers. But some celebrities manage to escape the stalking, zoom lenses and scandalous stories.
One of those celebrities was Betty White. I can honestly say I’ve never heard anything negative said about her. No scandals. No drama. No one saying she was bitchy, unkind, self centered, or egotistical. People would mostly say that she was a nice and funny lady. But how?
As far as I can tell, it was all about her positive attitude. There’s been a lot of discussion and social media memes dedicated to how attitude affects the type of people we attract and what people say about us.
Here are some quotes from her that really show who she was as a person:
“I just make it my business to get along with people so I can have fun. It’s that simple.”
“I’m a big cockeyed optimist. I try to accentuate the positive as opposed to the negative.”
“I am interested in a lot of things – not just show business and my passion for animals. I try to keep current in what’s going on in the world. 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. I don’t sit and vegetate”
“Butterflies are like women — we may look pretty and delicate, but baby, we can fly through a hurricane.”
“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. 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!”
Many celebrities passed away in 2021, and usually when I hear the news I’ll think, ‘Oh that’s sad,’ then get on with my day. But Betty’s passing really made me sad. I was sad she/we didn’t get to celebrate her 100th birthday. I was sad that a person who seemed so kind and genuine was no longer with us. I was sad that I wouldn’t get to experience any more of her quick wit. I was sad knowing that the entire cast of one of the funniest shows, “The Golden Girls,” was now gone.
There was just something special about her. She was so talented and so likable, that she could get away with jokes like this…
But for me, what I related to the most was how much she loved animals, and her dedication to places like the Los Angeles Zoo to promote the importance of educating the public about the role animals play in our world. Here’s two of my favorite animal quotes from her:
“You can always tell a lot about somebody by the way they put their hands on an animal.”
“Animals don’t lie. Animals don’t criticize. If animals have moody days, they handle them better than humans do.”
When it comes to animals, I believe they have very good character judgement. I’ll tell people, if your pet doesn’t like the person you’re dating, break up with them! (The person not the pet.) The fact that animals loved Betty as much as she loved them, tells me all I need to know about her.
This January 17th would have been Betty’s 100th birthday, and fans like me are going to donate $5 (or more) to a local animal shelter in her honor. #BettyWhiteChallenge
I can’t think of a better way to pay tribute to this kind and very talented lady, who had a big, loving heart for animals in need. Rest in peace Golden Girl. ❤️
Feature photo: Betty as Rose Nylund from The Golden Girls