100+ Dolly Parton Quotes That Prove Why We’ll Always Love Her

Every now and then, a person comes along with the rare ability to endear themselves to seemingly everyone. You can probably count the number of personalities who fit that description on one hand, and there’s a name that undoubtedly lands near the top of the list for most: Dolly Parton, the Queen of Country Music. A woman who, over the course of her seven-decade career and life in the spotlight, managed to make just about all of us feel like we knew her. And now, she’s left us with a whole lot of reasons why we will, in fact, always love her.

Parton passed away on Aug. 25, 2026, at the age of 80, and the outpouring of support since has proven what we already knew: She was treasured. Can you think of any figure in pop culture more universally admired? When she wasn’t singing, starring in movies, or RV’ing the country with husband Carl Thomas Dean (a favorite pastime up until his death in 2025), Parton was helping to build a new generation of book lovers through her Imagination Library. She also donated her time and resources to causes like vaccine funding, disaster relief, tuition assistance, and so much more.

All of this to say: She was the best, and the words she leaves us with will keep her legacy alive. Here are some of the greatest, funniest, and most insightful things Parton ever said.

Dolly Parton Quotes on Life & Legacy

1. “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”
2. “Storms make trees take deeper roots.”
3. “If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are an excellent leader.”
4. “I make a point to appreciate all the little things in my life. I go out and smell the air after a good, hard rain. These small actions help remind me that there are so many great, glorious pieces of good in the world.”
5. “I always love working with children. I never had children of my own. God has his purposes. God didn't let me have children so everybody's children could be mine. That's kind of how I'm looking at it.”
6. “The magic is inside of you; there ain’t no crystal ball.”
7. “You can wish your life away. But if you're going to dream, you're going to have to get out and, like I always say, you have to put some wings on them dreams, and some feet and fingers and some hands. They gotta get into some stuff. You can't just sit around and think of all the things you want to do. You've got to think of what you want to do, and then you've got to get out and make that happen.”
8. “You can be rich in spirit, kindness, love, and all those things that you can’t put a dollar sign on.”
9. “I’ve always tried to never step on anybody to get where I am. I’ve had to walk around a few people, jump over a few of ‘em now and then, but I think you’re a true success when you’ve seen your dreams come true and you can take pride in how you did it, and take pride in and respect and appreciate the people that helped you get there.”
10. “Sure, I'm in it for the money, but also because I love music. I picture myself in the future as a happy old lady, chubby, rosy cheeks, telling stories to the little kids. When I sit back in my rocker, I want to have done it all.”
11. “Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”
12. “After you reach a certain age, they think you’re over. Well, I will never be over.”
13. “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 simpleminded. Maybe that’s the key: simple.”
14. “You always want your people to be proud of what you have accomplished.”
15. “The older I get, the earlier I get up. The second my feet hit the floor, I’m awake. I’m like, Hurry, hurry. I just love life. And I feel like we ain’t got but a certain amount of time anyway. I want to make the most of it.”

Funny Dolly Parton Quotes

1. “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.”
2. “If I see something sagging, bagging, or dragging, I’ll get it nipped, tucked, or sucked.”
3. “I was the first woman to burn my bra — it took the fire department four days to put it out.”
4. “People always ask me how long it takes to do my hair. I don’t know, I’m never there.”
5. “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.”
6. “God and I have a great relationship, but we both see other people.”
7. “I have little feet because nothing grows in the shade.”
8. “After Momma gave birth to 12 of us kids, we put her on a pedestal. It was mostly to keep Daddy away from her.”
9. “People always say, ‘But you always look so happy.’ Well, that’s Botox! Nobody’s happy all the time. But I work hard at it.”
10. “I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb — and I also know that I’m not blonde.”
11. “My weaknesses have always been food and men — in that order.”
12. “Sometimes my mouth is a little too big and a little too open and sounds too much like a sailor.”
13. “I would never stoop so low as to be fashionable.”
14. “I have pretty good skin considering my age, and I think a lot of that is mineral oil and bacon grease.”
15. “I like to buy clothes that are two sizes too small and then take them in a little.”

Dolly Parton Quotes On Being Yourself

1. “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.”
2. “You don’t have to look like everybody else. You don’t have to be a raving beauty to be special and to be beautiful.”
3. “I’m flashy, and I’m flamboyant. Had I not been a girl, I definitely would have been a drag queen.”
4. “I'm a show-off basically... always have been.”
5. “Never ignore your roots, your home, or your hair.”
6. “I walk tall; I got a tall attitude.”
7. “I’m like a cartoon! I’ll look this way when I’m 80. I can see it now, people will be rolling me around in a wheelchair and I’ll still have my big hair, nails, my high heels, and my boobs stuck out!”
8. “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.”
9. “He always loved who I was, and I loved who he was, and we never tried to change each other.”
10. “I just don’t feel like I have to explain myself.”
11. “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.”
12. “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 blonde and piled her hair up, wore high heels and tight skirts, and boy, she was just 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.’”
13. “I’m not going to limit myself just because people won’t accept the fact that I can do something else.”
14. “People say how you stay looking so young? I say, well, good lighting, good doctors, and good makeup.”
15. “I am comfortable in my own skin, no matter how far I’ve stretched it at times. But I know who I am and I don’t try to be nobody else. And if that ain’t good enough for you, too bad.”

Dolly Parton Quotes on Hard Times

1. “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain!”
2. “If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.”
3. “We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”
4. “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.”
5. “Adjusting to the passage of time, I think, is a key to success and to life: just being able to roll with the punches.”
6. “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.”
7. “Everybody’s life is a soap opera, everybody’s life is a country-western song... depends on who’s writing it.”
8. “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.”
9. “You don’t stop when life gets hard — you sing through it.”
10. “With hope, there’s nothing you can’t do!”
11. “I have always been a firm believer in working hard for what is right and for making your own breaks if you want things to change.”
12. “Dreams nor wishes come true without a lot of hard work.”
13. “It’s hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.”
14. “Above everything else, I’ve always said I’ve had more guts than I’ve got talent.”
15. “I’ve had heartaches, headaches, toothaches, earraches, and I’ve had a few pains in the ass, but I’ve survived to tell about it.”

Dolly Parton Quotes on Kindness

1. “I always just thought if you see somebody without a smile, give ’em yours!”
2. “Everybody has their own journey; they have their own way of doing things. And who am I to judge?”
3. “Leave something good in every day.”
4. “Funny thing is that the poorer people are, the more generous they seem to be.”
5. “We can’t just hope for a brighter day; we have to work for a brighter day.”
6. “Lord, I’ve got enough problems of my own to pass judgment on somebody else.”
7. “We’re all just a bunch of sinners, but we do the best we can.”
8. “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.”
9. “We can’t save the world, but we can save the world we’re living in.”
10. “There’s a scripture that says, ‘A merry heart doeth good like medicine.’ I think that’s true, too.”
11. “I do not sit in the seat of judgment... I love people for who they are. We’re all God’s children!”
12. “I have a strict policy that nobody cries alone in my presence.” — Steel Magnolias
13. “I have to not harden my heart, because I want to stay open to feel things.”
14. “It's when you treat people like freaks that you become one yourself.”
15. “Life is sweeter when you have an attitude of gratitude!”

Dolly Parton Quotes On Work & Ambition

1. “I always count my blessings more than I count my money. I don’t work for money, never did.”
2. “Tumble outta bed, and I stumble to the kitchen. Pour myself a cup of ambition.” — “9 to 5”
3. “I’m just a working girl. 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.”
4. “You make your choices, you make your sacrifices, and I never looked back. I knew early on that I was going to walk that road until God told me to stop.”
5. “I had a gift of rhyme and a big imagination, and that’s just how I started and how I’m still a-goin’.”
6. “I’m the little engine that did.”
7. “I never have considered myself a perfectionist, but I do think of myself as a ‘professionalist’… I always strive simply to be my very best.”
8. “You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try.”
9. “When I’m inspired, I get excited because I can’t wait to see what I’ll come up with next.”
10. “I imagined it, I dreamed it, I worked for it, and God was good enough to let me have it.”
11. “Being a star just means that you find your own special place, and that you shine where you are.”
12. “I had to get rich so I could afford to sing like I was poor again.”
13. “Some of my dreams are so big they would scare you.”
14. “I still believe that women should get paid equal and should be treated with respect. I’m all about that. I don’t get out and have to preach it or march in the streets; I write about it.”
15. “Success goes straight to my heart, not to my head.”

Dolly Parton Quotes On Her Roots

1. “I have often joked that we had two rooms and a path — and running water if you were willing to run to get it.”
2. “I saw early on that I could make a business out of this because I wanted money, I wanted to travel, I wanted clothes, I wanted to be loved, I wanted to be staying in fine hotels. It wasn't to get away from what I was because I knew that would always be me. I've never been ashamed of my people. I love my people and I love my home.”
3. “I still close my eyes and go home; I can always draw from that.”
4. “It’s a compliment to me. I mean, we were real hillbillies. To me, that’s not an insult. We were just mountain people.”
5. “We always made jokes and said we didn't even know we were poor till some smart aleck up and told us. We didn't have any money, but we were rich in things that money don't buy. You know, like love and kindness and understanding."
6. “I have loved performing since I was big enough to wrestle my little brothers and sisters into sitting long enough for me to sing them my latest musical masterpiece. I just hope y'all will come out and see this little girl from the hills of Tennessee walk out there on that big ole stage and make her dreams come true. Don't make me wrestle you too, 'cause I will if I have to!”
7. “I would trade nothing for being brought up in the Great Smoky Mountains.”
8. “Of course, you always are with the butterflies, especially when you’re young and little and you’re used to just being with your family. And then there are all these people. It’s a little different than standing in front of that tin can singing to the chickens and the dogs and the little kids in the yard.”
9. “When I was a little girl, I used a tobacco stick and a tin can and pretended it was a microphone, and I sang on my front porch, imagining I was on the Grand Ole Opry.”
10. “I grew up poor — very poor.”
11. “I think that I got a really great spiritual base and creative base from my mother and my mother’s people, and I got that hard willingness and responsibility from my dad. So I think I got a good combination between my mom and dad.”
12. “Until I was a teenager, I used red pokeberries for lipstick and a burnt matchstick for eyeliner. I used honeysuckle for perfume.”
13. “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.”
14. “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.”
15. “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.”

In lieu of flowers, Parton’s family has asked that donations be made to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.