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.

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

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

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

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

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

I learn my songs by ear.

I have never known stage-fright at any time.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

This nation loves singing and loves acting.

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

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

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

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

I am harder on myself than anyone else could be.

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

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

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

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

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.