Image source, Reuters
ByHelen Bushby and Paul GlynnCulture reporters
Dolly Parton, the much-loved US singer-songwriter who has died at the age of 80, was known for her pearls of wisdom and humour as well as her music.
She regularly offered her perceptive and witty insights about life, music, fame and equal rights.
Here are some of her most memorable quotes from down the years:
Philosophy
“The way I see it, 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 have to write and sing. See, that was my first love, and I have to do that forever, however I have to do it.”
“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.”
“I always count my blessings, more than I count my money. I don’t work for money, never did. It was the art, it was the job. I loved the work. And I’ve done well, and I’m thankful for it.”
“I wanted more than to just be a farmer’s daughter, even though I’m proud to be [one]. I just wanted pretty things. I wanted money to buy the things I had always been impressed with as a child. I wanted, I guess, to be a star.”
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. That’s the easiest thing in the world to do.”
“I make jokes about it, but it’s the truth that I kind of patterned my look after the town tramp. I didn’t know what she was, just this woman who was blond and piled her hair up, wore high heels and tight skirts, and, boy, she was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen. Momma used to say, ‘Aw, she’s just trash’, and I thought, ‘That’s what I want to be when I grow up. Trash.'”
“I’m pretty sharp. I’m not educated and I’m not that intelligent, but I’m smart. They say somebody’s street smart. I feel like if I got intelligence, it’s just a country smart.”
Journalist: “What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?” Dolly: “The fact that sometimes my mouth is a little too big and a little too open and sounds too much like a sailor.”
“I’m very real where it counts, and that’s inside.”
Image source, Reuters
On love, life and death
“They say love isn’t about two people gazing into each other’s eyes, it is about two people gazing outwards in the same direction. I believe this with all my heart.”
“I never really tried to hide myself from anybody. I think that’s one of the reasons I’m still around, people feel like they know me.”
“I don’t want to be a star if I have no life.”
Speaking more about the book gifting programme for children: “Since I had no kids and my husband was pretty independent, I had freedom. So I think a big part of my success is the fact that I was free to work. And I didn’t have children, because I believe that God didn’t mean for me to have kids, so everybody’s kids could be mine, so I could do things like the Imagination Library.”
“I ain’t never gonna be old because I ain’t got time to be old. I can’t stop long enough to grow old. I’m just gonna be the best I can be at whatever age I am.”
“When I’m done, I can rest in peace knowing I’ve done my best. I hope that when my time comes, I’ll leave something behind that others can use to lift themselves up.”
“When I die, I’ll really be getting to live then because I believe that there is a greater place than this”.
Journalist: “What would be her funeral song?” Dolly: “I don’t know – but I won’t be singing it!”
On LGBT and black rights
“Yes, I support gay marriage. They have every right to be as miserable as straight people.”
“And of course black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!”
“I’ve got transgender people. I’ve got gays. I’ve got lesbians. I’ve got drunks. I’ve got drug addicts – all within my own family. I know and love them all, and I do not judge.”
“It’s a good thing I was born a girl, otherwise I’d be a drag queen.”
Advice to younger fans
In a letter to young recipients of books from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library: “You and all of your friends are very special. There is no limit to what you can do or how far you can go.”
She continued: “Just remember the lessons my family taught me – dream big dreams; learn everything you can learn; and care for all those who care for you. You do all of these things and you can be anyone you want to be.
“You are terrific, and remember… I will always love you.”
Related topics
