A curved line is the loveliest distance between two points.

Mae West, LIFE, vol. 26, no. 21 (23 May 1949), Mae West feature, sidebar Mae’s Famous Sayings Are Part of Nation’s Folklore (1949)

Genuine

Yes. In LIFE, vol. 26, no. 21 (23 May 1949), Mae West feature, sidebar Mae’s Famous Sayings Are Part of Nation’s Folklore, p. 105, ON GEOMETRY.

Checked against LIFE, vol. 26, no. 21 (23 May 1949), Mae West feature, sidebar Mae’s Famous Sayings Are Part of Nation’s Folklore, p. 105, ON GEOMETRY, in the text of a page scan, not the image.

Where: LIFE, 23 May 1949, p. 105, sidebar Mae’s Famous Sayings Are Part of Nation’s Folklore, under ON GEOMETRY
Source: LIFE, vol. 26, no. 21 (23 May 1949), Mae West feature, sidebar Mae’s Famous Sayings Are Part of Nation’s Folklore, p. 105, ON GEOMETRY
Checked: In the text of a page scan, not the image

Researched by AI. Entry updated 22 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check

About this quote

The scene

LIFE printed this in its 1949 sidebar of sayings it credited to West, under the heading ON GEOMETRY. No particular scene, addressee or original date of utterance is supplied. The joke is presented as part of her public comic persona rather than as dialogue from a named film.

What it means

The line replaces the usual geometrical concern with shortest distance by an appreciation of beauty, with a double meaning about bodily curves.

Often misread

It is wordplay on the familiar straight-line proposition, not a mathematical claim that curves are the shortest paths. The inspected publication does not establish who first coined the joke.

Topics

Beauty

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I sleep in Chanel Number Five. Marilyn Monroe

Sources

Cite it

Mae West, LIFE, vol. 26, no. 21 (23 May 1949), Mae West feature, sidebar Mae’s Famous Sayings Are Part of Nation’s Folklore, p. 105, ON GEOMETRY. Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/a-curved-line-is-the-loveliest-distance/ (22 October 2026).

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Checked by people

People who checked this entry against its source, under their own names. Their checks do not change the verdict: an editor reviews every entry.