67 Dolly Parton Quotes for Living Your Best Life

For years, people have turned to these Dolly Parton quotes to make them feel better about life, love, aging, and everything in between.

Dolly Parton is more than just a singer and songwriter.

She’s a cultural icon.

Parton gained her fame in the country music business but has written songs for other artists, and worked as a producer, author, instrumentalist, and more.

She’s known as a kind person with a great sense of humor and started a book club for kids in the 90s.

What can we learn from Dolly Parton?

Parton’s wise sayings can teach us so many things, but above all, that it’s important to live a life we’re proud of without the approval of others.

She wants everyone to love one another, and live their dreams, and if we all adopted that mentality, she believes the world would be better for it.

Below is our collection of inspirational, wise, and thought-provoking Dolly Parton quotes and sayings, collected from a variety of sources over the years.

We also have a compilation of Aretha Franklin quotes about love, life and respect.

Be sure to check those out too.

If you like this article, we suggest you explore our most popular quotes article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily encouragement. 

Check out more inspirational quotes on our motivational quotes category page.

Dolly Parton Quotes to Make You Smile

1.) “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” – Dolly Parton

2.) “Leave something good in every day.” – Dolly Parton

3.) “Smile—it increases your face value.” – Dolly Parton

4.) “You always want your people to be proud of what you have accomplished.” – Dolly Parton

5.) “I always just thought if you see somebody without a smile, give’em yours!” – Dolly Parton

6.) “The magic is inside you. There ain’t no crystal ball.” – Dolly Parton

7.) “I’ve always been fascinated by everything with wings.” – Dolly Parton

8.) “When I’m inspired, I get excited because I can’t wait to see what I’ll come up with next.” – Dolly Parton

9.) “When someone shows you their true colors, believe them.” – Dolly Parton

10.) “I bird and a fish can fall in love, but where do they make a home?” – Dolly Parton

11.) “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.” – Dolly Parton

12.) “I don’t know what the big deal is about old age. Old people who shine from the inside look 10 to 20 years younger.” – Dolly Parton

13.) “I don’t like to give advice. I like to give people information because everyone’s life is different, and everyone’s journey is different.” – Dolly Parton

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Dolly Parton Quotes About Love

14.) “I’ve had heartaches, headaches, toothaches, earaches, and I’ve had a few pains in the ass, but I’ve survived to tell about it.” – Dolly Parton

15.) “I think everybody should be allowed to be who they are and to love who they love.” – Dolly Parton

16.) “Wouldn’t it be something if we could have things we love in abundance without their losing that special attraction the want of them held for us.” – Dolly Parton

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.” – Dolly Parton

18.) “I’ll never harden my heart, but I’ve toughened the muscles around it.” – Dolly Parton

19.) “I’m not happy all the time, and I wouldn’t want to be because that would make me a shallow person. But I do try to find the good in everybody.” – Dolly Parton

20.) “I always wanted to be loved.” – Dolly Parton

21.) “I wish you joy and happiness, but above all of this I wish you love.” – Dolly Parton

22.) “I love everybody. My heart’s open to everybody.” – Dolly Parton  

23.) “Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing.” – Dolly Parton

24.) “Love is something sent from heaven to worry the hell out of you.” – Dolly Parton

25.) “I think everyone should be free to love who they want, there’s not enough love in this world, so find love where you can. And if you find it, consider yourself lucky.” – Dolly Parton

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Dolly Parton Quotes About Life

26.) “Storms make trees take deeper roots.” – Dolly Parton

27.) “I’m not going to limit myself just because people won’t accept the fact that I can do something else.” – Dolly Parton

28.) “When I got somethin’ to say, I’ll say it.” – Dolly Parton

29.) “If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” – Dolly Parton

30.) “I’m not intimidated by how people perceive me.” – Dolly Parton

31.) “A lot of people have said I’d have probably done better in my career if I hadn’t looked so cheap and gaudy. But I dress to be comfortable for me, and you shouldn’t be blamed because you want to look pretty.” – Dolly Parton

32.) “Find out who you are. And do it on purpose.” – Dolly Parton

33.) “Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” – Dolly Parton

34.) “No one is ever successful at everything that they do.” – Dolly Parton

35.) “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.” – Dolly Parton

36.) “It’s hard to find a diamond in a rhinestone world.” – Dolly Parton

37.) “I know who I am, I know what I can and can’t do. I know what I will and won’t do. I know what I’m capable of and I don’t agree to do things that I don’t think I can pull off.” – Dolly Parton

38.) “I have a strict policy that nobody cries alone in my presence.” – Dolly Parton

39.) “We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” – Dolly Parton

40.) “You gotta keep trying to find your niche and trying to fit into whatever slot that’s left for you or to make one of your own.” – Dolly Parton

41.) “You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try.” – Dolly Parton

42.) “We’re all just a bunch of sinners, but we do the best we can.” – Dolly Parton

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Funny Dolly Parton Quotes

43.) “I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb, and I’m not blonde either.” – Dolly Parton

44.) “My weaknesses have always been food and men—in that order.” – Dolly Parton

45.) “I was the first woman to burn my bra—it took the fire department four days to put it out.” – Dolly Parton

46.) “Sometimes my mouth is a little too big and a little too open and sounds too much like a sailor.” – Dolly Parton

47.) “Above everything else I’ve done, I’ve always said I’ve had more guts than I’ve got talent.” – Dolly Parton

48.) “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.” – Dolly Parton

49.) “I would never stoop so low as to be fashionable.” – Dolly Parton

50.) “I think there is a little magic in the fact that I’m so totally real but look so artificial at the same time.” – Dolly Parton

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More Dolly Parton quotes

51.) “I just don’t have time to get old!” – Dolly Parton

52.) “A lot of people think I’m a comedian.” – Dolly Parton

53. “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

54. “I try to see the good in everybody, and I don’t care who people are as long as they’re themselves, whatever that is.” – Dolly Parton

55. “I think so many people live their whole life in fear and doubt and shame.” – Dolly Parton

56. “My life has been very full.” – Dolly Parton

57. “Life is a song to me.” – Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton quotes to uplift your spirits

58. “Be whatever your dreams and your luck will let you be.” ― Dolly Parton

59. “You’re only poor if you choose to be. Meaning: you can be rich in spirit, you can be rich in thought, you can be rich in talent and you can be rich in all those wonderful things.” ― Dolly Parton

60. “Dark night, bright future. Like the phoenix from the ashes, I shall rise again.” ― Dolly Parton

61. “Me and God have a great relationship, but we’re both seeing other people.” ― Dolly Parton

62. “I strengthen the muscles around my heart, but I can’t harden it.” ― Dolly Parton

63. “If you try to follow everyone else and be like everyone else, before you know it you’re gone. You’re not going to find yourself again; you’ll just be a version of what you might have hoped to have been.” ― Dolly Parton

64. “We can’t just hope for a brighter day, we have to work for a brighter day.” ― Dolly Parton

65. “You don’t even have to believe in anything to be good to people. You should just know you should be a good human being.” ― Dolly Parton

66. “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.” ― Dolly Parton

67. “I have to not harden my heart, because I want to stay open to feel things.” ― Dolly Parton

Did you enjoy these Dolly Parton quotes?

Dolly Parton has been a cultural icon since her rise to stardom.

These Dolly Parton quotes encapsulate the wholesome nature of her outlook on life and attitude toward love and other people.

Parton is known for her contributions to country music, but many people turn to her wise sayings, regardless of their favorite music genre.

How can Dolly Parton change your outlook on life?

She believes that the world needs more kind people, and encourages people to become empowered to be and believe in themselves.

When you change your life according to Parton’s ideas, you’ll be able to see what you’ve been missing out on and keep making your life better as you move through your years.

Which of these inspirational Dolly Parton quotes resonated with you best?

Do you have any other favorite quotes to add?

Let us know in the comment section below.