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Creativity Quote by 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"

About this Quote

A pop star refusing the oldest excuse in show business is a small act with big cultural bite. Kate Smith’s vow flips the industry’s default setting: the gig is sacred, the personal life is collateral. “The show must go on” is usually sold as bravery, a kind of professional nobility. Smith exposes it as a slogan that can be used to launder neglect. By calling it “meaningless,” she isn’t rejecting performance; she’s rejecting the hierarchy that treats family as an optional accessory to a career.

The intent is plainspoken but strategic. “I vowed” has the ring of an oath, not a preference. It frames loyalty as a policy she set for herself, an internal contract meant to outlast managers, tour schedules, and public expectations. “Give up everything” is deliberately absolute, a rhetorical overstatement that signals how often entertainers are pressured to compromise in “small” ways until their lives are no longer theirs. “No matter what” is a pre-emptive rebuttal to the usual justifications: the audience is waiting, the sponsors paid, the orchestra is hired.

Context matters because Smith’s era didn’t offer performers - especially women - much permission to put domestic obligations ahead of work without being labeled difficult or ungrateful. Her stance reads as both intimate and defiant: a declaration that the real performance isn’t stoicism under the spotlight, but choosing, openly, what deserves the spotlight in your life.

Quote Details

TopicFamily
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Smith, Kate. (2026, February 16). 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. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-vowed-that-whenever-my-family-needed-me-i-would-114561/

Chicago Style
Smith, Kate. "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." FixQuotes. February 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-vowed-that-whenever-my-family-needed-me-i-would-114561/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"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." FixQuotes, 16 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-vowed-that-whenever-my-family-needed-me-i-would-114561/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

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Kate Smith (May 1, 1907 - June 17, 1986) was a Musician from USA.

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