My greatest strength is common sense. I'm really a standard

Katharine Hepburn, the fierce star whose spirit blazed across stage and screen, once said: “My greatest strength is common sense. I'm really a standard brand—like Campbell's tomato soup or Baker's chocolate.” In these words she cloaks her wisdom in humility, for what she names as common sense is in truth the foundation of all enduring greatness. And what she likens to the standard brand is not mediocrity, but reliability, simplicity, and timeless worth.

To declare common sense as one’s greatest strength is to honor the rarest of gifts, for though many possess wit, brilliance, or charm, few possess the unshakable ability to see clearly and act plainly. Common sense is the compass of the soul; it cuts through illusion, resists vanity, and directs one toward what is practical, steady, and enduring. Hepburn, who stood as a woman unafraid of convention, did not seek to dazzle with mystery but to live rooted in clarity. Her strength lay not in extravagance, but in her ability to remain true, grounded, and unmistakably real.

When she compared herself to Campbell’s soup or Baker’s chocolate, she spoke not of blandness, but of trustworthiness. These are staples of the household, familiar and dependable, never failing in their purpose. So, too, was she. In an age when Hollywood often sought to fabricate illusion and cast glamour like a spell, Hepburn’s self-image was that of something honest, practical, and essential. She was not fleeting starlight, but daily bread. She was not a jewel locked away, but sustenance that nourishes all who partake.

History bears witness to this same lesson. Consider George Washington, who was no soaring orator like Jefferson, nor a fiery radical like Adams. He was, instead, a man of common sense, steadfast and sober, who weighed decisions with clarity. He became the “standard brand” of leadership—unadorned, unpretentious, yet utterly dependable. And it was precisely this plain strength that made him the father of a nation. As with Hepburn, his greatness was not in flamboyance, but in enduring reliability.

We live in a world that craves spectacle, yet is starved of simplicity. How many chase brilliance while neglecting common sense? How many adorn themselves with the illusion of greatness while forgetting the strength of being reliable, grounded, and true? Hepburn’s words remind us that it is better to be like soup and chocolate—things that last, that serve, that nourish—than to be like a passing flame that dazzles for a moment and then dies.

The teaching here is plain. Do not despise simplicity. Treasure common sense and cultivate it in all things. Make your word as reliable as bread, your character as steady as a staple upon the shelf. Let your strength not be in the dazzling show, but in the quiet faith that others can place in you. For the world does not endure on luxuries, but on what is simple and true.

Therefore, O listener, strive to be like Hepburn’s standard brand. Be known not for empty spectacle but for the reliability of your spirit. Let others say of you: “Here is a person who may be counted upon. Here is one whose wisdom is grounded, whose strength is steady, whose presence is nourishing.” For such a one, though they may seem ordinary, shines brighter and lasts longer than all the fleeting stars.