"To keep your character intact you cannot stoop to filthy acts. It makes it easier to stoop the next time."

Character

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Thematic Reflection

This quotation examines the core nature of Character as articulated by Katharine Hepburn. Within historical and literary traditions, reflections on Character provide actionable mental models, challenging individuals to evaluate personal ethics, self-discipline, and daily actions.

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About Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress whose career as a leading lady on stage and screen spanned six decades. Known for her headstrong independence, spirited personality, and outspokenness, she cultivated a screen persona that matched this public image, and regularly played strong-willed, sophisticated women. She worked in a varied range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama. Her accolades include a record four Academy Awards for Best Actress, two British Academy Film Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards and eight Golden Globe Awards.

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More by Katharine Hepburn

"I never realized until lately that women were supposed to be the inferior sex."

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

— Katharine Hepburn
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"Plain women know more about men than beautiful women do."

— Katharine Hepburn
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"Only the really plain people know about love - the very fascinating ones try so hard to create an impression that they soon exhaust their talents."

— Katharine Hepburn
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More about Character

"Leadership is not a title, it is the realization that character is forged in the fires of discipline."

— Roger MacBride Allen
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"Democrats talk about programs like Social Security or Medicare, but it's not clear to most voters what Democrats' core moral values are."

— Jonathan Haidt
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"Every society rests in the last resort on the recognition of common principles and common ideals, and if it makes no moral or spiritual appeal to the loyalty of its members, it must inevitably fall to pieces."

— Christopher Dawson
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"The simplest truths often reveal that character is forged in the fires of discipline."

— Allen Adler
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