Dolly Parton Quotes & Sayings

The bible says, 'All things are possible.' I believe that. — Dolly Parton

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

You know, I look like a woman but I think like a man. And in this world of business, that has helped me a lot. Because by the time they think that I don't know what's goin' on, I then got the money, and gone. — Dolly Parton

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. — Dolly Parton

Storms make trees take deeper roots. — Dolly Parton

People are always asking me in interviews, 'What do you think of foreign affairs?' I just say, 'I've had a few.' — Dolly Parton

I always loved books. I don't remember learning to read, it was just something I always did. I was hungry for knowledge, I guess, and information; I was a curious kid. I still am. — Dolly Parton

Don't judge me by the cover, 'cause I'm a real good book. — Dolly Parton

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

I had to get rich so I could afford to sing like I was poor again. — Dolly Parton

It's great at this stage in my life to still be in the running, that people appreciate you. — Dolly Parton

You always want your people to be proud of what you have accomplished. — Dolly Parton

The way I see it, you've gotta put up with the rain to get a rainbow. — Dolly Parton

I would never stoop so low as to be fashionable. — Dolly Parton

I think of country radio like a great lover: you were nice to me, you gave me a lot of cool stuff, and then you dumped my ass for another woman. — Dolly Parton

I would honestly say that with all the awards and all the other things that I've done in my life, Dollywood is one of the greatest dreams that I've ever had come true - I am so proud of that I can't even begin to tell you, Dollywood is real special to me. — Dolly Parton

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

I still close my eyes and go home - I can always draw from that. — Dolly Parton

I try not to go around looking like a hag. — Dolly Parton

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

People tend to fear what they do not know, and what they fear they dislike. — Dolly Parton

Leave something good in every day. — Dolly Parton

I think 9/11 affected everybody in one way or another. — Dolly Parton

There are some loony people in this world! — Dolly Parton

God has his plans and his reasons. Sometimes we are supposed to go through things so that we learn lessons. — Dolly Parton

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

There's been a lot of talk about Jack White wanting to work with me, and I've always admired him, and of course, he lives in Nashville, too. — Dolly Parton

Goodbye- please don't cry/we both know that I'm not what you need. But I will always love you. — Dolly Parton

I may look fake but I'm real where it counts. — Dolly Parton

I've always been fascinated by everything with wings. — Dolly Parton

I know it's corny - but I love 'Jingle Bells!' — Dolly Parton

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. — Dolly Parton

If I had to give up performing, it wouldn't bother me too much. But I couldn't live without my writing. I put all my feelings, my very soul, into my writing. I tell the world in my songs things I wouldn't even tell my husband. — Dolly Parton

I just kind of wake up with a new idea and new dreams every day, and I follow that dream, as they say. — Dolly Parton

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

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

Oh, I can spot a phoney a mile away. — Dolly Parton

Those people who wake up and they're just beautiful, they're just born that way. Well that ain't me. I gotta work for everything I've got. — Dolly Parton

Here you come again, looking better than a body has a right to. — Dolly Parton

I was blessed to have family members who encouraged me to pursue my dreams. Whether it is your parents, or your uncles or your aunts or even the neighbor down the road, it's important that kids have someone who encourages them to chase their rainbow. — Dolly Parton

Cause I am strong and I can prove it
And I got my dreams to see me through
It's just a mountain, I can move it
And with faith enough there's nothing I can't do
And I can see the light of a clear blue morning
And I can see the light of brand new day
I can see the light of a clear blue morning
And everything's gonna be all right
It's gonna be okay
[lyrics from "Light of a Clear Blue Morning"] — Dolly Parton

Johnny Cash has only passed into the greater light. He will only become more important in this industry as time goes by ... — Dolly Parton

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. — Dolly Parton

It's always great to perform at home in the good ol' U.S.A. — Dolly Parton

I learned early on that I could get a lot of attention by singing and writing little songs, so it was like throwing nuts to a monkey ... I just couldn't get enough. — Dolly Parton

I am a tender-hearted person, and I feel everything to the ninth degree. — Dolly Parton

Time marches on and sooner or later you realize it is marching across your face. — Dolly Parton

Jump out of bed and I stumble to the kitchen, pour myself a cup of ambition and yawn and stretch and try to come alive. — Dolly Parton

Every seven years, I sit down and make a whole new plan. — Dolly Parton

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

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.' — Dolly Parton

All my momma's people were very musical. My grandpa, who was the Pentecostal minister, he was a great musician. He played the fiddle, he played the piano. — Dolly Parton

People ask me, "Do you ever run out of patience? Are you ever rude to people?" Sometimes I am. I hate when it happens, but it seems like some people just try to get on your nerves. There are times when I feel like saying something like, "Why don't you get out of my face, you ugly woman. And take those bratty kids with you!" But at times like that I usually get all flustered. I get confused and say stupid stuff like, "Kiss my ass, that's what you are. And don't think I can't do it! — Dolly Parton

I used to sing songs and write with my uncle, Bill Owens. — Dolly Parton

I never tried quitting, and I never quit trying. — Dolly Parton

You are the song of every bird, you are the poet's every word, every artist's picture, every writer's play. — Dolly Parton

I think every entertainer's had nights when things go wrong. I mean you can't remember everything all the time, and especially if you're having hard times personally, things going on that you - you know, and then people make it worse. And that makes you feel worse. — Dolly Parton

I've done everything every fat person ever has. I've tried every diet. — Dolly Parton

We're not all perfect. People always say to me: "Oh you seem happy all the time." But I'm not happy all the time. I'm a human being. I'm very sensitive. I hurt like anybody else. But I do try my best to have a good attitude and I set about tryin' to take care of myself knowing I'm not going to be exactly right, so I just try to see what I can do to improve every single day. — Dolly Parton

I think everyone should be with who they love. — Dolly Parton

You can do anything you want to do as long as you keep a good attitude and keep working at it. But the second you give up, you're screwed. — Dolly Parton

To me it's a two-way street. They're good to me, and I'm good to them. It's a natural thing for me to love people, and I think people sense it ... I am secure with the kind of person I am. I don't feel like I'm better than anyone, but I'm just as good as anyone. — Dolly Parton

I still have my first paycheck. It was just, I think, a dollar or two that I got when I started as a songwriter with BMI, and I had some songs there that I had through the company, and in the mail I got this big old check for, like, a dollar and a half or something. Somebody had recorded one of my songs. — Dolly Parton

My first job was singing on the Cas Walker radio show in Knoxville, Tennessee. I was about 10 years old, and I thought it was big time. — Dolly Parton

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

It was never a marketing tool. People say that, but I dress this way for the same reasons I did when I first started doing it. It still comes from a serious place inside of me. I get up in the morning, and I think I just look better a certain way I do my makeup. I want to shine, I want to glitter. I'm not getting up thinking, "Oh, this'll get 'em." And I'm not doing it to make a statement. I'm just doing it to look like Dolly - the Dolly that I know and the Dolly that you know. — Dolly Parton

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. — Dolly Parton

I think god gave us talent because he screwed up our hair — Dolly Parton

I've never had a divorce, but I've seen so many of my friends, my sister, my family go through that stuff, so I try to write for the people that can't write about it. I take on their sorrow, so I'm able to kind of express it, or their joy. — Dolly Parton

I never know tomorrow what I might be doing. I just ask God to lead me and show me and direct me and help me and support me in it. So I just wait to hear the call. — Dolly Parton

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

Daddy's working boots have taken many steps for us. — Dolly Parton

I was not a natural beauty, and I always wanted to be pretty. I just have such an outgoing personality that it's fitting that I would be overdone. — Dolly Parton

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. — Dolly Parton

If people work for me over the years, I expect them to be paid what they're owed, but I don't expect them to be paid more than they earn. — Dolly Parton

A minute to Dolly's like a lifetime to everybody else. — Dolly Parton

If I see something saggin', baggin', or draggin', I'm gone have it nipped, tucked, or sucked! — Dolly Parton

I don't think of myself as a feminist, but if someone calls me a feminist icon, that's fine. I've always stood up for women and myself in general. I have a great love and respect, because I have had beautiful sisters, aunts and my grandmas, but I love men. I totally understand the nature of men. — Dolly Parton

If people think I'm a dumb blonde, because of the way I look, then they're dumber than they think I am. If people think I'm not very deep because of my wigs and outfits, then they're not very deep. — Dolly Parton

I really learned to sing in church, I think, really with emotion. — Dolly Parton

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. — Dolly Parton

Writing's just as natural to me as getting up and cooking breakfast. — Dolly Parton

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

When I sit back in my rocking chair someday, I want to be able to say I've done it all. — Dolly Parton

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain! — Dolly Parton

I listen to my old records and I think, 'How did I ever get on the radio?' — Dolly Parton

One day I was standing with my stage manager, Sandy Prudden, and Buddy Sheffield watching as Kermit the Frog (with the help of the late Jim Henson) sweetly sang a song. Sandy was always a big joker. He sidled up to me and said, "Isn't it amazing the way Kermit can sing like that with somebody's hand up his ass." Without missing a beat, I came back with, "Shoot, that ain't nothin'. I did that for seven years on the 'The Porter Wagoner Show. — Dolly Parton

I can't do nothing just a little. — Dolly Parton

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

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

I hope people realise that there is a brain underneath the hair and a heart underneath the boobs. — Dolly Parton

I have a strict policy that nobody cries alone in my presence. — Dolly Parton

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

I've been to those places where it's 'poor, pitiful me.' — Dolly Parton

Sometimes a song just has to cater to whatever's goin' on. A well-written song is a song that stays true to the subject. — Dolly Parton

It doesn't bother me when someone calls me a 'dumb blonde.' I'm neither dumb or blonde. — Dolly Parton

If we all climb together, we could climb the highest hill. — Dolly Parton

My husband said 'show me your boobs' and I had to pull up my skirt ... so it was time to get them done! — Dolly Parton

I feel blessed that I still have the little Dolly in my heart, I'm still the same girl that wants to squeeze every little drop out of life that I can. — Dolly Parton

In the country field, we're brought up in spiritual homes, we're taught to "judge not lest you be judged", and it's always been a mystery to me how people jump all over things just to criticize, condemn and judge other people when that is so un-Christian - and they claim to be good Christians! We're supposed to love one another. We're supposed to accept and love one another. Whether we do or not, that's a different story. But that's what we're supposed to do. — Dolly Parton