Kate Smith's Quotes

Kathryn Elizabeth Smith (May 1, 1907 – June 17, 1986), known professionally as Kate Smith and The First Lady of Radio, was an American contralto well known for her rendition of Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America”. She had a radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s. She became known as The Songbird of the South after her enduring popularity during World War II.

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All quotes from Kate Smith sorted alphabetically:

Kate Smith about Time:

I have never known stage-fright at any time.

Kate Smith about Hair:

I know I'm fat and I know my hair is straight, but I can sing.

Kate Smith about Music:

I just can't read music.

Kate Smith about Product:

I have personally believed in every product I have ever advertised.

Kate Smith about Work:

I must work hard to make my singing above reproach, there must be no faults which hard work would take care of.

Kate Smith about Learn:

I learn my songs by ear.

Kate Smith about Sympathy:

I sometimes get that wonderful sympathy between me and the audience, telling me I've reached their hearts. And when I do, the thrill is mine.

Kate Smith about Respect:

I shall always respect the composer. If I embellish, it is his idea I am embellishing.

Kate Smith about Family:

I vowed that whenever my family needed me, I would give up everything to go to them, no matter what. The show must go on was meaningless to me.

Kate Smith about Time:

Ice cream was my undoing, and six chocolate milk shakes in a row were nothing to me at one time.

Kate Smith about Singing:

I was always daydreaming about singing in big productions on Broadway.

Kate Smith about Amazing:

In 29 years, I had recorded over 2,200 songs. I was amazed.

Kate Smith about Music:

If rock-and-roll is well done, there's nothing so terribly wrong with that kind of music. But the lyrics are another story.

Kate Smith about Intelligent:

Intelligent analysis of the composer's intention and strict adherence to it automatically ensures sincerity.

Kate Smith about Music:

In nearly all ballads, the words set the mood and meaning, while the music intensifies or enhances them.

Kate Smith about Meaning:

It is important that the audience should understand every syllable of every word, for only then can they grasp the meaning of the song.

Kate Smith about Health:

It became obvious in 1957 that I was endangering my health by carrying so much weight.

Kate Smith about Food:

Many people submit to excessive appetites without realizing that they do not need to eat so much food.

Kate Smith about Audience:

It's up to the audience. It always has been.

Kate Smith about Light:

My singing is part of me, like my stoutness, or my light hair, or my poor eyesight.

Kate Smith about Family:

Most of the people who act and sing do so for their own pleasure and that of their friends and family.

Kate Smith about Work:

Middle-aged women have greater stability, they are more loyal, and their capacity for steady work is greater than that of younger women.

Kate Smith about Song:

Since I have been singing for so many years, I don't always need to approach a song quite so laboriously and meticulously.

Kate Smith about Best:

Public and employer opinion often defeat society's best interests with a prejudice against middle-aged women.

Kate Smith about Acting:

This nation loves singing and loves acting.

Kate Smith about Second Chance:

There's no second chance on stage, and I was trained to make the most of my first chance.