Washington (United States) (AFP) – Country music legend Dolly Parton, who has died at the age of 80, was certainly never at a loss for words. She estimated that she wrote 3,000 songs over the course of her long career. She also was quick-witted.
Here are just a few quotes from the music icon:
– **On beauty:**
“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.”
– “People say, how do you stay looking so young? I say, well, good lighting, good doctors, and good makeup.”
– “I was the first woman to burn my bra, it took the fire department four days to put it out.”
– “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.”
– “A rhinestone shines just as good as a diamond.”
– “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.”
– **On music:**
“My songs got me out of the mountains and took me everywhere I’ve wanted to go.”
– “I’ll always be a country musician because I’m a country girl.”
– “It was a worldwide thing. It was in a movie; it was No.1. I thought, ‘Wow. I wrote that little song.’ That’s when I felt my worth as a songwriter.”
— Parton on the first time she heard Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You,” which was a global smash hit from the soundtrack of the 1992 film “The Bodyguard.”
– **On real life:**
“We never actually starved, but sometimes we never had quite enough to eat.”
— Parton on her childhood.
– “My weaknesses have always been food and men — in that order.”
– “I always count my blessings more than I count my money. I don’t work for money, never did.”
– “I’ve dreamed myself into a corner and I still have so many things I want to achieve, so I’m gonna keep on working as long as I can to see everything come to life.”
— Parton to People magazine, four days before her death was announced.
(Sources: Parton’s social media accounts, People magazine, Country Living magazine)
© 2024 AFP
