The Wit and Wisdom of Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton, the beloved US singer-songwriter who passed away at 80, was renowned for her wisdom and humor, as well as her music. Here are some of her most memorable quotes:
Philosophy
- "If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."
- "I always just thought if you see somebody without a smile, give 'em yours!"
- "I'm not going to limit myself just because people won't accept the fact that I can do something else."
- "If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one."
- "Don't get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life."
- "Storms make trees take deeper roots."
- "Sometimes, what would look like to be my biggest mistakes turn out to be my biggest blessings."
On Songwriting and Performing
- "I actually take my songwriting more serious than anything else I do, so I would say I am a songwriter first."
- "It's my way of expressing myself. It's my therapy."
- "You have to search for a long time because I've written a lot of songs. But yes, there are pieces of me, of course, in everything I write."
- "I look totally artificial, but I am totally real, as a writer, as a professional, as a human being. A rhinestone shines just as good as a diamond."
- "My dream was always to make as many people happy as I could in this life."
On Her Image
- "If I was trying to describe myself to someone that had never seen me before, I would say, 'Calm down. Don't get scared. It's just me. I know I look totally bizarre and artificial, but I'm totally real inside.'"
- "I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb - and I'm not blonde either."
- "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap."
- "People always ask me how long it takes to do my hair. I don't know, I'm never there."
- "If I see something sagging, bagging and dragging, I'm going to nip it, tuck it, and suck it."
- "I don't like to be like everybody else. I've often made the statement that I would never stoop so low as to be fashionable."