Hattie McDaniel Quotes

Every actor and actress is possessed of the absorbing passion to create something distinctive and unique.

Bob Hope, Red Skelton, and Eddie Cantor... help us keep our balance.

I'd rather play a maid than be one.

When I was little, my mother taught me how to use a fork and knife. The trouble is that Mother forget to teach me how to stop using them!

Why should I complain about making $700 a week playing a maid? If I didn't, I'd be making $7 a week being one.

I am loathe to get married again. I've been married enough; I just prefer to forget it.

Putting a little time aside for clean fun and good humor is very necessary to relieve the tensions of our time.

We all respect sincerity in our friends and acquaintances, but Hollywood is willing to pay for it.

It sure looks good to see an honest-to-goodness audience after looking at you all for so long from the silver screen

I did my best, and God did the rest.

I always have the best of everything.

A woman's gifts will make room for her.

My desire for the part of Mammy was not dominated by selfishness for Hollywood has been good to me and I am grateful

I'm letting no man handle my bank account.

I sincerely hope that I shall always be a credit to my race and the motion picture industry.

I'd rather make $700 a week playing a maid than earn $7 a day being a maid.

As for those grapefruit and buttermilk diets, I'll take roast chicken and dumplings.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, fellow members of the motion picture industry and honored guests. This is one of the happiest moments of my life, and I want to thank each one of you who had a part in selecting me for one of their awards for your kindness. It has made me feel very, very humble and I shall always hold it as a beacon for anything that I may be able to do in the future. I sincerely hope I shall always be a credit to my race and to the motion picture industry. My heart is too full to tell you just how I feel, and may I say thank you and God bless you.

In playing the part of Mammy, I tried to make her a living, breathing character, the way she appeared to me in the book

Always remember this: There are only eighteen inches between a pat on the back and a kick in the rump.

You can best fight any existing evil from the inside.

The only choice permitted us is either to be servants for $7 a week or to portray them for $700 per week.

I've played everything but a harp.

When I was 8 years old, I knew what I was going to be—an actress.

What is the thing that Hollywood demands most? Sincerity. No place in the world will pay such a high price for this admirable trait

The entire race is usually judged by the actions of one man or woman

That's a powerful lucky rabbit's foot. I got the part in Gone With the Wind because of it. I got my Warner contract, thanks to it.

Playing the Mammy of Miss Leigh was just about the biggest thrill I've ever had

I don't belong on this earth. I always feel out of place - like a visitor.

Faith is the black person's federal reserve system.