You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.

Mae West (1893–1980) was an American stage and film star celebrated for her bawdy wit, sexual frankness, and self-possessed persona—qualities that made her both controversial and iconic in the early-to-mid 20th century. The quip “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough” circulates widely as a distillation of her public image: a performer who treated pleasure, audacity, and self-determination as virtues rather than vices. Although strongly associated with West in popular quotation culture, the line is often presented without a reliable contemporaneous citation to a specific play, film, interview, or publication, and may reflect later attribution rather than a securely documented utterance.

The saying plays on the truism that life is singular (“you only live once”) and flips it into a hedonistic ethic: live so fully, boldly, and intelligently that you need no second chance. “Do it right” implies intentionality—choosing experiences, pleasures, and risks with gusto rather than drifting through life. In the Mae West frame, it also carries a wink: “right” is not moral rectitude but unapologetic enjoyment and self-authorship. The line’s enduring appeal lies in its compact encouragement to treat life as an art to be performed well—complete, satisfying, and unregretful—rather than merely endured.