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: "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." "Sometimes, what would look like to be my biggest mistakes turn out to be my biggest blessings." "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.
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." How Dolly Parton told her life story through six iconic songs Dolly Parton: Life of the music legend whose songs touched millions 'I’ll think of you each step of the way' - Taylor Swift leads tributes after Dolly Parton dies aged 80 "If I was trying to describe myself to someone that had never seen me before, I would say, 'Calm down. 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.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
