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 other people.
Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) American actress
“Kate Talks Straight,” interview by Myrna Blyth, Ladies’ Home Journal (1991-10)
(Source)
Quotations by:
Hepburn, Katharine
Enemies are so stimulating.
Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) American actress
(Attributed)
If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.
Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) American actress
(Attributed)
Life can be wildly tragic at times, and I’ve had my share. But whatever happens to you, you have to keep a slightly comic attitude. In the final analysis, you have got not to forget to laugh.
Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) American actress
(Attributed)
If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased.
Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) American actress
(Attributed)
We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers — you can blame anyone 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. It’s as simple as that, isn’t it?
Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) American actress
(Attributed)
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 (1907-2003) American actress
(Attributed)
Life’s what’s important. Walking, houses, family. Birth and pain and joy. Acting’s just waiting for a custard pie. That’s all.
Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) American actress
Uncommon Scold, by Abby Adams (1989)
If you survive long enough, you’re revered — rather like an old building.
Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) American actress
In Michael Freedland, Katharine Hepburn (1984)
A longer form of this is quoted in Susan Ware, Letter to the World: Seven Women Who Shaped the American Century (1998): "Well, it's just a question of survival. If you survive long enough, you're revered, rather like an old building. The great trick is to get over the middle period. That's the tricky bit."
A variant is found in the Celebrity Register (1986): "If you survive you become a legend. I'm a legend because I've survived over a long period of time. I'm revered rather like an old building."
To keep your character intact you cannot stoop to filthy acts. It makes it easier to stoop the next time.
Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) American actress
Quoted in “Hepburn: She is the Best,” Los Angeles Times (24 Nov 1974)