“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun”

“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun” is a saying that has been printed on many gift items, such as posters, T-shirts and wall plagues. The saying is almost always credited to actress Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003). “If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun” was quoted from Hepburn in The New Yorker  in 1987, in Pauline Kael’s article on the making of the film The African Queen (1952).
 
There is a large time gap from 1952 to 1987, but earlier citations of the saying are not known.
 
 
Wikiquote: Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (12 May 1907 – 29 June 2003) was an American actress of film, television and stage.
 
Sourced
If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.
. Katharine Hepburn and Susan Crimp, Katharine Hepburn Once Said…: Great Lines to Live By, HarperCollins, 2003, p. 30
       
Google Books
The New Yorker
Volume 63, Issues 29-36
1987
Pg. 108:
“Katie, what’s happened to you? You’re a decent human being.”
“Not anymore I’m not. If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun. John has fun.”
(John Huston, the director of The African Queen—ed.)
 
Google Books
Hooked
By Pauline Kael
New York, NY: Dutton
1989
Pg. 366:
“Katie, what’s happened to you? You’re a decent human being.”
“Not anymore I’m not. If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun. John has fun.”
   
Google Books
List:
Lots of Lists for Laughs and Lifts
By Derric Johnson
Orlando, FL: Yess Press
1993
Pg. 25:
If you obey all the rules…you miss all the fun.
Katherine Hepburn
 
Twitter
Robert de Kruijf
‏@Gompie32  
Quote of the day 21/02/2010:
If you obey the rules, you miss all the fun.
#kalligrafie #qotd http://twitpic.com/14somp
2:55 PM - 22 Feb 10