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Dolly is an icon and a queen. And these Dolly Parton quotes prove it. Throughout her decades of being in the limelight, she’s graced us with all sorts of “Dollyisms.”
Here are some of our favorite Dolly quotes from her songs, books, interviews, and even her own Twitter.
Dolly Parton Quotes
1. “I was the first woman to burn my bra—it took the fire department four days to put it out.”
2. “Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”
3. “You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try.”
4. “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.”
5. “After you reach a certain age, they think you’re over. Well, I will never be over. I’ll be making records if I have to sell them out of the trunk of my car. I’ve done that in my past, and I’d do it again.”
6. “I’ve had to go against all kinds of people through the years just to be myself. I think everybody should be allowed to be who they are, and to love who they love.”
7. “I look like a woman but I think like a man. I’ve done business with men who think I’m as silly as I look. By the time they realize I’m not, I’ve got the money and gone.”
8. “I’m not offended by all of the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb… and I also know that I’m not blonde.”
9. “People say how you stay looking so young? I say, well, good lighting, good doctors, and good makeup.”
10. “I tried every diet in the book. I tried some that weren’t in the book. I tried eating the book. It tasted better than most of the diets.”
11. “I’m flashy, and I’m flamboyant. Had I not been a girl, I definitely would have been a drag queen.”
12. “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.”
13. “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”
14. The magic is inside you. There ain’t no crystal ball!
15. “I’m proud of my hillbilly, white trash background. To me that keeps you humble; that keeps you good. And it doesn’t matter how hard you try to outrun it—if that’s who you are, that’s who you are. It’ll show up once in a while.”
16. “I know how to stand my ground. I know how to speak up. I know how to stand sturdy. But that doesn’t mean I’ve hardened my heart.”
17. “They think I’m simpleminded because I seem to be happy. Why shouldn’t I be happy? I have everything I ever wanted and more. Maybe I am simple-minded. Maybe that’s the key: simple.”
18. “I know some of the best Dolly Parton jokes. I made ’em up myself.”
19. “I never felt I belonged. Never belonged in my whole life, even as a little kid. I was just different and so I never really found my place till I moved to Nashville and got in the music business. That was my real place, so I fit in.”
20. “I never think of myself as a star because, as somebody once said, ‘A star is nothing but a big ball of gas’ — and I don’t want to be that.”
21. “God’s like a farmer. He gets up and throws out all of these ideas like corn, and I want to be the early bird.”
22. “It’s not all about money. I count my blessings more than I count my money, but I need to count my money too.”
23. “I’ve always been misunderstood because of how I look. Don’t judge me by the cover ’cause I’m a real good book!”
24. When it comes to music or hair, crank up the volume!
25. “When they say, ‘Less is more,’ I say, ‘That’s BS. More is more.’”
26. “You need to really believe in what you’ve got to offer, what your talent is—and if you believe, that gives you strength.”
27. “I really wish that y’all could have seen the look on my lawyer’s face 24 years ago when I told him I wanted to start a theme park and call it Dollywood. He thought I’d already taken the train to Crazywood.”
28. “I’m a songwriter, so I have to live with my feelings on my sleeve. I have to not harden my heart, because I want to stay open to feel things. So when I hurt, I hurt all over. And when I cry, I cry real hard. And when I’m mad, I’m mad all over. I’m just a person; I like to experience whatever the feeling is and whatever I’m going through.”
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