Top 42 Quotes & Sayings by Kate Smith

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American musician Kate Smith.

Last updated on December 21, 2024.

Kathryn Elizabeth Smith, known professionally as Kate Smith, was an American contralto. Referred to as The First Lady of Radio, Smith is well known for her renditions of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" & "When The Moon Comes Over The Mountain". In more recent times, she has also been associated with controversial songs containing racially insensitive themes and undertones. 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 because of her tremendous popularity during World War II.

American - Musician | May 1, 1907 - June 17, 1986

Source: Wikipedia

I am exceedingly lucky that my voice, along with perfect pitch and perfect rhythm, was given me at birth.

Kate Smith

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

Kate Smith

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

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

Kate Smith

I have always examined closely the motives of any group for which I am asked to raise money.

Kate Smith

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

Kate Smith

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

Kate Smith

An entertainer should in his public performance keep himself out of any controversy, political or otherwise.

Kate Smith

Because of my voice, speaking words which had been carefully chosen, women had used money they had set aside for other purposes to buy war bonds.

Kate Smith

This nation loves singing and loves acting.

Kate Smith

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

Kate Smith

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

I just can't read music.

Kate Smith

During the presidential primaries of 1940, I received a request from the Democratic National Committee to sing God Bless America before the speeches.

Kate Smith

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

Kate Smith

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

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

Kate Smith

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

Kate Smith

I have been extremely lucky with reviewers and critics throughout my career.

Kate Smith

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

Kate Smith

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

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

Kate Smith

I learn my songs by ear.

Kate Smith

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

Kate Smith

Every small town has its dramatic group, its barber-shop quartet, every home has music in one form or another.

Kate Smith

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

Kate Smith

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

Kate Smith

I could not separate myself off stage from myself on stage, as so many actors can.

Kate Smith

I am harder on myself than anyone else could be.

Kate Smith

I am continually embarrassed by people who point me out as an example of what can be done without training.

Kate Smith

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

Kate Smith

I could see myself in a white nurse's uniform, working unnoticed for many years and at last dying, unknown, unmarried and unsung.

Kate Smith

I have never known stage-fright at any time.

Kate Smith

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

Kate Smith

As soon as I began to earn what might be called fairly large sums, I bought a car and began to explore the country around New York.

Kate Smith

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

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

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

Kate Smith

And when all is said and done, there is no greater success in the world than just being happy.

Kate Smith

It has been said that genius is only the power of making continuous effort. The line between failure and success is so fine that we scarcely know when we pass it. We are told that there is no failure, except in no longer trying - no defeat, except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own weakness of purpose.

Kate Smith

after several months of probation work, standing on my feet some ten to twelve hours a day, I decided that as a nurse I was a pretty good entertainer.

Kate Smith

I love animals to the extent that my home is my dog's home! Which means that nothing is too good for my Freckles-chairs, couches, beds. But I do draw the line on chipmunks nibbling at my table linens, bedding, blankets, etc.

Kate Smith

Top 42 Quotes & Sayings by Kate Smith

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