Dolly Parton Quotations

I'm not going to limit myself just because people won't accept the fact that I can do something else.

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.

My songs are the door to every dream I've ever had and every success I've ever achieved.

I've always kinda been a little outcast myself, a little oddball, doin' my thing, my own way. And it's been hard for me to, to be accepted, certainly in the early years of my life.

I hated school. Even to this day, when I see a school bus it's just depressing to me. The poor little kids.

If I hadn't been a woman, I'd be a drag queen for sure. I like all that flair and I'd be dressing up in them high heels and putting on the big hair. I'd be like Ru Paul.

I'm an energy vampire. I just suck off everybody's energy. But I give it back.

I'd love to do a duet, always wanted to work with Madonna, but she never asked.

God tells us not to judge one another, no matter what anyone's sexual preferences are or if they're black, brown or purple.

I grew up around lots of men - my father, my brothers, my uncles - so I wasn't intimidated by them.

We're all just a bunch of sinners, but we do the best we can.

You gotta keep trying to find your niche and trying to fit into whatever slot that's left for you or to make one of your own.

If you like good ol' fashion Southern soul food then, yes, I am a good cook! My specialty is chicken dumplings and poke salad.

Adjusting to the passage of time, I think, is a key to success and to life: just being able to roll with the punches.

I want to go and go, and then drop dead in the middle of something I'm loving to do. And if that doesn't happen, if I wind up sitting in a wheelchair, at least I'll have my high heels on.

The only way I'd be caught without makeup is if my radio fell in the bathtub while I was taking a bath and electrocuted me and I was in between makeup at home. I hope my husband would slap a little lipstick on me before he took me to the morgue.

It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.

I've used my femininity and my sexuality as a weapon and a tool... but that's just natural.

Songwriting is my way of channeling my feelings and my thoughts. Not just mine, but the things I see, the people I care about. My head would explode if I didn't get some of that stuff out.

I thank God for my failures. Maybe not at the time but after some reflection. I never feel like a failure just because something I tried has failed.

We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.

I feel that sin and evil are the negative part of you, and I think it's like a battery: you've got to have the negative and the positive in order to be a complete person.

Dollywood is a family park, and all families are welcome. We do have a policy about profanity or controversial messages on clothing or signs. It is to protect the individual wearing or carrying them, as well as to keep down fights or problems by those opposed to it at the park.

When I wake up, I expect things to be good. If they're not, then I try to set about trying to make them as good as I can 'cause I know I'm gonna have to live that day anyway. So why not try to make the most of it if you can? Some days, they pan out a little better than others, but you still gotta always just try.

When I'm home, I spend Sunday with my husband. If we're not cooking, we travel around in our camper, stop at fast-food restaurants, and picnic. We love that stuff that will harden your arteries in a hurry.

Mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston. I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, 'Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed.'

I wanted to write a book that talked about the emotions of children, which is the rainbow. We all have moods. We talk about being blue when we're sad, and being yellow when we're cowards, and when we're mad, we're red.

Nobody can ever make enough money for as many poor relatives as I've got. Somebody's got a sick kid, or somebody needs an operation, somebody ain't got this, somebody ain't got that. Or to give the kids all a car when they graduate.

Thanks to Botox and fillers, as well as the work that I've already had, my face pretty much maintains itself.

I say, 'Yeah, Taylor Swift.' I think she is a smart, beautiful girl. I think she's making all the right moves. She's got a good head on her shoulders. She's surrounded with wonderful people. Her songs are great. She keeps herself anchored. She knows who she is, and she's living and standing by that.

Every single diet I ever fell off of was because of potatoes and gravy of some sort.

My nails are my rhythm section when I'm writing a song all alone. Some day, I may cut an album, just me and my nails.

I'm no natural beauty. If I'm gonna have any looks at all, I'm gonna have to create them.

If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one.

My weaknesses have always been food and men - in that order.

You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try.

People say I look so happy - and I say, 'That's the Botox.'

I'm working on my life story. I'm not decided if it's going to be a musical or a movie with music in it.

I was born with a happy heart, and I try to keep a good attitude. It's not true that I'm happy all the time because nobody is, and we all go through our things.

Being a star just means that you just find your own special place, and that you shine where you are. To me, that's what being a star means.

If you talk bad about country music, it's like saying bad things about my momma. Them's fightin' words.

I was always a junk food person, still am.

I think country music is popular - has been popular and will always be popular because I think a lot of real people singing about a lot of real stuff about real people. And it's simple enough for people to understand it. And we kind of roll with the punches.

I don't have maids or servants, and my husband and I love waking up early and going to the 24-hour supermarket when there is nobody else there.

A lot of people have said I'd have probably done better in my career if I hadn't looked so cheap and gaudy. But I dress to be comfortable for me, and you shouldn't be blamed because you want to look pretty.

I think everyone should be with who they love.

I'm always amazed by the people who work on stage who sing night after night, day after day, week in week out.

I will never retire unless I have to.

It's a good thing I was born a girl, otherwise I'd be a drag queen.

I'm old enough and cranky enough now that if someone tried to tell me what to do, I'd tell them where to put it.

George Jones was my all-time favorite singer and one of my favorite people in the world.

A gypsy told me I was going to do great things. I was going to make all kinds of money.

Until I was a teenager, I used red pokeberries for lipstick and a burnt matchstick for eyeliner. I used honeysuckle for perfume.

I do write a lot of children's songs, and I'm going to do a children's television show, which also means I'll be doing a lot of albums. So I do hope my future will hold a lot of things for children.

Stop this attitude that older people ain't any good anymore! We're as good as we ever were - if we ever were any good.

You can be rich in spirit, kindness, love and all those things that you can't put a dollar sign on.

When I was with Andy Warhol, I thought, 'God, his wig looks cheaper than mine!'

Everywhere I go, the kids call me 'the book lady.' The older I get, the more appreciative I seem to be of the 'book lady' title. It makes me feel more like a legitimate person, not just a singer or an entertainer. But it makes me feel like I've done something good with my life and with my success.

My mama never wore a pair of pants when I was growing up, and now that's all she wears. It was so funny for me when I first started seeing Mama wear pants. It was like it wasn't Mama. Now I've bought her many a pantsuit because she just lives in them.

Find out who you are and do it on purpose.

People like bluegrass. It's had a following amongst a lot of hip and young people. A lot of college kids like bluegrass.

Plastic surgeons are always making mountains out of molehills.

After momma gave birth to 12 of us kids, we put her up on a pedestal. It was mostly to keep Daddy away from her.

The secret to a long marriage is to stay gone.

When you're 40, you can't ride the fence anymore. You gotta make definite decisions about your life.

God and I have a great relationship but we both see other people.

I just don't feel like I have to explain myself.

Someone once asked me, 'How long does it take to do your hair.' I said, 'I don't know, I'm never there.'

I'll bring my grits when I travel, because I get so hungry on the road.

I've always been fascinated by everything with wings.

If I can get my dress on, my weight is under control.

Sometimes if you jump into something too quickly, you can screw up something that might have been good two years down the road.

I think I became more productive through not having children. I never really had the desire to have them. My husband didn't want them either, so it worked out well.

I often joke that 100 years from now I hope people are saying, 'Dang, she looks good for her age!'

Depression runs in my family on both sides, and I have to be wary.

Believe it or not, I was just given an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Tennessee.

My husband calls me 'catfish.' He says I'm all mouth and no brains.

I don't like to give advice. I like to give people information because everyone's life is different, and everyone's journey is different.

I wear wigs all the time on shows, and every day when I'm in public, at Dollywood. People say, 'How many wigs do you have?' And I say, 'Well, at least 365 because I wear at least one a day.'

I am not gay, but if I were, I would be the first one running out of the closet.

No matter what, I always make it home for Christmas. I love to go to my Tennessee Mountain Home and invite all of my nieces and nephews and their spouses and kids and do what we all like to do - eat, laugh, trade presents and just enjoy each other... and sometimes I even dress up like Santa Claus!

I think your values are always influenced by your family and your community.

I love story songs because I've always loved books.

It's not easy being young. It's hard to know what to do.

Above everything else I've done, I've always said I've had more guts than I've got talent.

You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap!

A lot of dreams can turn to nightmares... if you don't really work them.

I look just like the girls next door... if you happen to live next door to an amusement park.

I love to flirt, and I've never met a man I didn't like.

Funny thing is that the poorer people are, the more generous they seem to be.

Kitty Wells was the first and only Queen of Country Music, no matter what they call the rest of us. She was a great inspiration to me as well as every other female singer in the country music business. In addition to being a wonderful asset to country music, she was a wonderful woman. We will always remember her fondly.

When I'm inspired, I get excited because I can't wait to see what I'll come up with next.

If I see something sagging, bagging or dragging I'll get it nipped, tucked or sucked.

I'm not happy all the time, and I wouldn't want to be because that would make me a shallow person. But I do try to find the good in everybody.

I have a big gay and lesbian following and they've been very loyal and kind to me.

I know who I am, I know what I can and can't do. I know what I will and won't do. I know what I'm capable of and I don't agree to do things that I don't think I can pull off.

You don't see too many atheists on the deathbed. They all start cramming then.

I have surrounded myself with very smart people.

Oh, I can spot a phoney a mile away.

I'm gonna be making records anyway, even if I had to sell 'em out of the trunk of my car. I'm that kind of musician and singer.