Katharine Hepburn Quotes & Sayings

Its a force of life, sex; you cant deny the thrill of riding high, wide and handsome with someone you love. — Katharine Hepburn

There are no laurels in life, just new challenges. — Katharine Hepburn

Trying to be fascinating is an asinine position to be in. — Katharine Hepburn

Life gets harder the smarter you get, the more you know. — Katharine Hepburn

If you have fame, you never feel that you have fame, if you have the brains of a flea. Because fame is something that's over back of you. It ain't ahead ... Not ahead at all. I mean, if you've done it that's great, but "what are you going to do now?" is the only thing that matters. — Katharine Hepburn

I don't care WHAT the say about me, as long as it's not the truth — Katharine Hepburn

Kindness is one of the greatest gifts you can bestow upon another. If someone is in need, lend them a helping hand. Do not wait for a thank you. True kindness lies within the act of giving without the expectation of something in return. — Katharine Hepburn

People have grown fond of me, like some old building. — Katharine Hepburn

Being an actor is such a humiliating experience because you are selling yourself to the public, your face, your personality, and that is humiliating. As you get older, it becomes more humiliating because you've got less to sell. — Katharine Hepburn

To live creatively free, do what you know how to do now, then 'act as if' you know how to do the rest. — Katharine Hepburn

Life's what's important. Walking, houses, family. Birth and pain and joy - and then death. — Katharine Hepburn

Being a housewife and a mother is the biggest job in the world, but if it doesn't interest you, don't do it - I would have made a terrible mother. — Katharine Hepburn

Everyone thought I was bold and fearless and even arrogant, but inside I was always quaking. — Katharine Hepburn

Life is very hard, isn't it? It does kill you, after all. — Katharine Hepburn

Nobody owes anybody anything; it's up to each individual to set high standards for himself or herself, and to set about working hard and creating a solid future. — Katharine Hepburn

To put it simply: There was no bunk about Bogie. He was a man. — Katharine Hepburn

I always wanted to be a movie actress. I thought it was very romantic. And it was. — Katharine Hepburn

Children need boundaries, so they can know how far they have to go to get beyond them. — Katharine Hepburn

Acting is the perfect idiot's profession. — Katharine Hepburn

Friendship, if somebody holds out his hand toward you, you've got to reach and take it ... There are too many people alone, and if you're lucky enough for somebody to want you as a friend, it's an obligation. — Katharine Hepburn

Time is the stuff of which life is made. — Katharine Hepburn

I wear my sort of clothes to save me the trouble of deciding which clothes to wear. — Katharine Hepburn

The notion that work is a burden is a terrible mistake. Working and facing up to one's responsibilities: That's happiness. — Katharine Hepburn

My father had been disgusted and heartsick over the fact that I wanted to act. Thought it a silly profession closely allied to street-walking. — Katharine Hepburn

Vitality! That's the pursuit of life, isn't it? — Katharine Hepburn

It is the plain women who know about love; the beautiful women are too busy being fascinating. — Katharine Hepburn

It's a bore - B-O-R-E - when you find you've begun to rot. — Katharine Hepburn

I truly believe that people do the best they can. — Katharine Hepburn

I was born lucky, and I have lived lucky. What I had was used. What I still have is being used. Lucky. — Katharine Hepburn

I don't think that work ever really destroyed anybody. I think that lack of work destroys them a hell of a lot more. — Katharine Hepburn

I have many regrets, and I'm sure everyone does. The stupid things you do, you regret if you have any sense, and if you don't regret them, maybe you're stupid. — Katharine Hepburn

I would have made a terrible parent. The first time my child didn't do what I wanted, I'd kill him. — Katharine Hepburn

I believe how I act today will affect how I am tomorrow. — Katharine Hepburn

It would be a terrific innovation if you could get your mind to stretch a little further than the next wisecrack. — Katharine Hepburn

The shakes stop if you drink enough, but then so does everything else. — Katharine Hepburn

I have no romantic feelings about age. Either you are interesting at any age or you are not. There is nothing particularly interesting about being old-or being young for that matter. — Katharine Hepburn

People who want to be famous are really loners. Or they should be. — Katharine Hepburn

Loved people are loving people. — Katharine Hepburn

You can't just be talented: You have to be terribly smart and energetic and ruthless. You also have to become necessary to people, by working hard and well and bringing more than your bones and your skin to the project. Don't just show up. Transform the work, yourself, and everybody around you. Be needed. Be interesting. Be something no one else can be
and consistently. — Katharine Hepburn

The time to make up your mind about people is never. — Katharine Hepburn

You can say or write anything about me you like. Just don't, for any reason, ever tell the truth. — Katharine Hepburn

The calla lilies are in bloom again. — Katharine Hepburn

Life is hard. After all, it kills you. — Katharine Hepburn

I was brought up by two extremely intelligent people who gave me the greatest gift that man can give anyone, and that is freedom from fear. — Katharine Hepburn

If you follow all of the rules, you'll miss all of the fun. — Katharine Hepburn

Don't give in! Make your own trail. Don't moan. Don't complain. Think positively. — Katharine Hepburn

Acting is the most minor of gifts and not a very high-class way to earn a living. After all, Shirley Temple could do it at the age of four. — Katharine Hepburn

Now how can anybody look at that and not believe in God? I mean, how can anybody look at this and not believe there is some higher power, some divine force at work in the universe greater than Man, some god that created it, that created all this, that created us? — Katharine Hepburn

Death will be a great relief. No more interviews. — Katharine Hepburn

Silence the artist and you have silenced the most articulate voice the people have. — Katharine Hepburn

Life is full of censorship. I cant spit in your eye. — Katharine Hepburn

If you have to support yourself, you had bloody well better find some way that is going to be interesting. — Katharine Hepburn

What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate. — Katharine Hepburn

If you lead a public life, people are much more on to you than you think. — Katharine Hepburn

What acting means is that you've got to get out of your own skin. — Katharine Hepburn

It's a new low for actresses when you have to wonder what is between her ears instead of her legs. — Katharine Hepburn

I was fearless...and lawless. — Katharine Hepburn

I never realized until lately that women were supposed to be the inferior sex. — Katharine Hepburn

[Lauren Bacall] and Bogie seemed to have the most enormous opinion of each other's charms, and when they fought it was with the utter confidence of two cats locked deliciously in the same cage. — Katharine Hepburn

What in the world would we do without our libraries? — Katharine Hepburn

If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased. — Katharine Hepburn

I can't say I believe in prizes. I was a whiz in the three-legged race - that's something you CAN win. — Katharine Hepburn

I'm an atheist, and that's it. I believe there's nothing we can know except that we should be kind to each other and do what we can for people. — Katharine Hepburn

Few people know what they mean when they say, "I love you." ... Well, what does the word love mean? It means total interest. I think the reason very few people really fall in love with anyone is they're not willing to pay the price. The price is you have to adjust yourself to them. — Katharine Hepburn

Life is to be lived. If you have to support yourself, you had bloody well better find some way that is going to be interesting. And you don't do that by sitting around. — Katharine Hepburn

I am an atheist and that's it. I believe there's nothing we can know except that we should be kind to each other and do what we can for other people. — Katharine Hepburn

If you want to give up the admiration of thousands of men for the distain of one, go ahead, get married. — Katharine Hepburn

You give because you love and cannot help giving. — Katharine Hepburn

The calla lilies are in bloom again. Such a strange flower - suitable to any occasion. I carried them on my wedding day, and now I place them here in memory of something that has died. — Katharine Hepburn

You learn in life that the only person you can really correct and change is yourself. — Katharine Hepburn

The thing about life is that you must survive. Life is going to be difficult, and dreadful things will happen. What you do is move along, get on with it, and be tough. Not in the sense of being mean to others, but being tough with yourself and making a deadly effort not to be defeated. — Katharine Hepburn

My, I like Judy Holliday! She looks like a Monet model. And she's so - so defenseless. I like defenseless people. They're the best. — Katharine Hepburn

If you're given a choice between money and sex appeal, take the money. As you get older, the money will become your sex appeal. — Katharine Hepburn

I'm what is known as gradually disintegrating. I don't fear the next world, or anything. I don't fear hell, and I don't look forward to heaven. — Katharine Hepburn

"Isn't it fun getting older?" is really a terrible fallacy. That's like saying I prefer driving an old car with a flat tire. — Katharine Hepburn

Marriage is a series of desperate arguments people feel passionately about. — Katharine Hepburn

I loved Spencer Tracy. I would have done anything for him. — Katharine Hepburn

When you know better, it's easier to do better
George Chryst — Katharine Hepburn

We were brought up in the school that teaches: You do what the script tells you. Deliver the goods without comment. Live it-do it-or shut up. After all, the writer is what's important. If the script is good and you don't get in its way, it will come off okay. I never discussed a script with Spence [Spencer Tracy]; we just did it. The same with Hank [Henry Fonda] in On Golden Pond. Naturally and unconsciously we joined into what I call a musical necessity-the chemistry that brings out the essence of the characters and the work. — Katharine Hepburn

Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then. — Katharine Hepburn

It's a rather rude gesture, but at least it's clear what you mean. — Katharine Hepburn

We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers - but never blame yourself. It's never your fault. But it's always your fault, because if you wanted to change you're the one who has got to change. — Katharine Hepburn

It's not what you start in life, it's what you finish. — Katharine Hepburn

Without discipline, there's no life at all. — Katharine Hepburn

No part of marriage is the exclusive province of any one sex. — Katharine Hepburn

I think the reason that very few people really fall in love with anyone is that they're not willing to pay the price. — Katharine Hepburn

How wonderful are the women and men in the world who feed us. Especially those who feed us with no salary. The mothers - I thought. The wives. — Katharine Hepburn

I think most of the people involved in any art always secretly wonder whether they are really there because they're good or there because they're lucky. — Katharine Hepburn

Dressing up is a bore. At a certain age, you decorate yourself to attract the opposite sex, and at a certain age, I did that. But I'm past that age. — Katharine Hepburn

I don't care what is written about me as long as it isn't true. — Katharine Hepburn

Let's just say that where a change was required, I adjusted. In every relationship that exists, people have to seek a way to survive. If you really care about the person, you do what's necessary, or that's the end. For the first time, I found that I really could change, and the qualities I most admired in myself I gave up. I stopped being loud and bossy ... Oh, all right. I was still loud and bossy, but only behind his back. — Katharine Hepburn

When a man says he likes a woman in a skirt, I tell him to try one. — Katharine Hepburn

All my life, I've stayed at parties too long because I didn't know when to go. — Katharine Hepburn

It's life isn't it? You plow ahead and make a hit. And you plow on and someone passes you. Then someone passes them. Time levels. — Katharine Hepburn

My father, a surgeon and urologist, studied sex professionally all his life. Before he died at 82, he told me he hadn't come to any conclusions about it at all. — Katharine Hepburn

Acting is a nice childish profession - pretending you're someone else and, at the same time, selling yourself. — Katharine Hepburn

I don't believe in marriage. It's bloody impractical. 'To love, honor, and obey.' If it weren't, you wouldn't have to sign a contract. — Katharine Hepburn

When I've been unsuccessful, I've been controlled. When I've been successful, I've been in control. — Katharine Hepburn

I like to move fast, and wearing high heels was tough, and low heels with a skirt is unattractive. So pants took over. — Katharine Hepburn

I welcome death. In death there are no interviews! — Katharine Hepburn