Dolly Parton quotes:

If you like good ol' fashion Southern soul food then, yes, I am a good cook! My specialty is chicken dumplings and poke salad.

When I'm home, I spend Sunday with my husband. If we're not cooking, we travel around in our camper, stop at fast-food restaurants, and picnic. We love that stuff that will harden your arteries in a hurry.

No matter what, I always make it home for Christmas. I love to go to my Tennessee Mountain Home and invite all of my nieces and nephews and their spouses and kids and do what we all like to do - eat, laugh, trade presents and just enjoy each other... and sometimes I even dress up like Santa Claus!

I wanted to write a book that talked about the emotions of children, which is the rainbow. We all have moods. We talk about being blue when we're sad, and being yellow when we're cowards, and when we're mad, we're red.

God tells us not to judge one another, no matter what anyone's sexual preferences are or if they're black, brown or purple.

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.

Kitty Wells was the first and only Queen of Country Music, no matter what they call the rest of us. She was a great inspiration to me as well as every other female singer in the country music business. In addition to being a wonderful asset to country music, she was a wonderful woman.

I never thought, in my lifetime, that you'd be able to watch movies, read books and listen to music from a phone, but I guess the technology of tomorrow is here today.

I do remember how it was to be poor. I do remember that in my early years, we had to grow and raise all of our food, even our animals. And I remember in my early life, we didn't even have electricity. So it was very, very hard times then.

I used to always sit in church looking out the windows at the boys, wondering if I could make an excuse to go out and, you know, go to the bathroom because all the outdoor toilets. But anyhow, I was only going out to see the boys.

It took me years to eat a lot of shellfish. I was probably 20 years old before I had even seen a shrimp cocktail. I like oysters, but fried.

Of course, 'I Will Always Love You' is the biggest song so far in my career. I'm famous for several, but that one has been recorded by more people and made me more money, I think, than all of them. But that song did come from a true and deep place in my heart.

First thing I do in the morning, after I have my breakfast and do my spiritual work, is put on my makeup and fix my hair, and I can do my makeup in 15 minutes.

Dollywood is a family park, and all families are welcome. We do have a policy about profanity or controversial messages on clothing or signs. It is to protect the individual wearing or carrying them, as well as to keep down fights or problems by those opposed to it at the park.

I was the first woman to burn my bra - it took the fire department four days to put it out.

I want to go and go, and then drop dead in the middle of something I'm loving to do. And if that doesn't happen, if I wind up sitting in a wheelchair, at least I'll have my high heels on.

I have had some cosmetic surgery, especially after I lost weight and stuff, and I've had my breasts lifted - but not injected. That would scare me to death, anyway.

I'm an energy vampire. I just suck off everybody's energy. But I give it back.

No one could have been nicer, classier nor better looking than Dick Clark. I've had a crush on him since I was a teenager.

I'm just a friendly person; that runs in my family.

There's a scripture that says, 'A merry heart doeth good like medicine.' I think that's true, too.

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.

I always ask God to work through me and let me be a light of some kind and help in this world, so I always pray for that, and I always want to do good.

Mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston, I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song, and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, 'Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed.'

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

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

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

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

I don't think I'm supposed to boss other people around just because I'm a so-called celebrity or star. I hate that when people act that way. No one deserves it. I've seen it happen. I don't call those people out - they know who they are. Some enjoy that reputation.

As a songwriter, you respect and appreciate the writings of other people, and I often get asked, are there songs out there I wish I'd written? Yes. There's many of them!

My weaknesses have always been food and men - in that order.

I love traveling all over the world; but it's true: there's nothing like home.

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.

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.

My favorite movies of all times is 'Doctor Zhivago,' and I love 'Gone With the Wind.' I'd love to play some Southern belle or something where I owned a plantation.

I have tennis shoes with little rhinestones that I slip on if I exercise. But I always wear heels, even around the house. I'm such a short little thing, I can't reach my kitchen cabinets.

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.

If I can get my dress on, my weight is under control.

Wrecking Ball' is a great song.

I'm no natural beauty. If I'm gonna have any looks at all, I'm gonna have to create them.

If I'd married someone in show business, there'd be too much competition.

I was approached about having my own network many, many years ago. There were some people who wanted to start up a network, and I didn't want to get that involved in the business aspect of it.

I think so many people live their whole life in fear and doubt and shame.

God and I have a great relationship, but we both see other people.

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.

My songs are the door to every dream I've ever had and every success I've ever achieved.

Adjusting to the passage of time, I think, is a key to success and to life: just being able to roll with the punches.

My mama never wore a pair of pants when I was growing up, and now that's all she wears. It was so funny for me when I first started seeing Mama wear pants. It was like it wasn't Mama. Now I've bought her many a pantsuit because she just lives in them.

People don't realize that we, we meaning people in show business, have the same problems as everyone else. Money doesn't change that. Fame doesn't change that. Sometimes that brings on more problems. You know, it's just a different kind of problems.

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.

I think your values are always influenced by your family and your community.

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

I love Indian, Italian and Mexican food. And if it's a romantic type of thing, I like a good French restaurant.

I am confident that partnering my Dollywood Company with a great company like Gaylord will create something truly special.

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

No, I can't do rap music!

Actually, I hear a lot of rock music. My husband is a big rock fan.

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

I'm just a simple country girl.

The secret to a long marriage is to stay gone.

I'm not going to limit myself just because people won't accept the fact that I can do something else.

If you talk bad about country music, it's like saying bad things about my momma. Them's fightin' words.

Being brought up very religious, I have a fear of people that look to idol gods.

Plastic surgeons are always making mountains out of molehills.

I know that I always wanted things. I was always proud of my people, proud of my home, but I always wanted more. I think most people do.

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

God knows when the end of time will come, not some fanatic... The world will end someday, but the end of the world and the end of time are two different things.

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.

People are looking for something a little more stable; people are feeling like they need to get closer to God.

Children have always responded to me because I have that cartoon-character look.

I do write a lot of children's songs, and I'm going to do a children's television show, which also means I'll be doing a lot of albums. So I do hope my future will hold a lot of things for children.

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.

Every day I pray about all I do.

People like bluegrass. It's had a following amongst a lot of hip and young people. A lot of college kids like bluegrass.

I usually get up at 3 A.M. I don't require a lot of sleep, and if I get tired, I'll take a powernap during the day.

I ain't never far away from a pencil and paper or a tape recorder.

Tell me I have to be somewhere, and I'll be there 20 minutes early and stay there longer than anybody else. You hold up a lot of people if you're not on time.

I love being active.

I love being busy.

I've always loved the fans in Scotland and have a little Scottish blood of my own.

I can write a song in about an hour if it's a simple country song.

Most country songs, certainly all the stuff I've written, are stories driven by characters.

I don't have maids or servants, and my husband and I love waking up early and going to the 24-hour supermarket when there is nobody else there.

I wear make-up, and it gets a little bit thicker every year.

I look just like the girls next door... if you happen to live next door to an amusement park.

Depression runs in my family on both sides, and I have to be wary.

For some reason, I have better luck when I work with women. I guess I have a good sense of sisterhood.

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.

People say I look so happy - and I say, 'That's the Botox.'

Some guys look better as they get older.

All of my brothers and sisters are very talented. They all sang all right.

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

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

I always think of myself as a working girl.

No matter how beautiful a woman might be, you're always threatened by certain... You're always threatened by other women, period.

I was probably 7 years old when I started playing the guitar and writing some serious songs.

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

My songs are like my children - I expect them to support me when I'm old.

I always loved that old song 'Banks of the Ohio' - it was always such a man's song, so I've always wanted to record it.

Every time I come to Europe, I'm just as excited as I was my very first time, which was many, many years ago. I love that part of the world, and I especially love the fans.

My husband and I had to raise five of my younger brothers and sisters. They lived with us. We sent them to school.

I think there is a little magic in the fact that I'm so totally real but look so artificial at the same time.

I hated school. Even to this day, when I see a school bus it's just depressing to me. The poor little kids.

I love story songs because I've always loved books.

I do believe that any successful business starts from the top and works its way down.

Sometimes if you jump into something too quickly, you can screw up something that might have been good two years down the road.

Believe it or not, I was just given an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Tennessee.

When I'm inspired, I get excited because I can't wait to see what I'll come up with next.

Being a star just means that you just find your own special place, and that you shine where you are. To me, that's what being a star means.

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

Funny thing is that the poorer people are, the more generous they seem to be.

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.

You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap!

Some things are strange to me, and some things are odd. But I don't condemn. If you can accept me, I can accept you.

Find out who you are and do it on purpose.

Adjusting to the passage of time is a key to success and to life: just being able to roll with the punches.

Mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston. I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, 'Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed.'

9 to 5,' that little song, that little story, just won't ever end. Just like 'I Will Always Love You,' it just keeps comin' back, popping up its head in one way or another.

You'll pay the highest price on back roads and in back seats and in a cheap highway motel. But what's a few more strangers in a life of nothing else.

I love bald men. Just because you've lost your fuzz don't mean you ain't a peach.