Quotes

By Marilyn Monroe

 I think I am a mixture of simplicity and complexes. But I'm beginning to understand myself now. I can face myself more, you might say. I've spent most of my life running away from myself".
"..I've given pure sex appeal very little thought. If I had to think about it, I'm sure it would frighten me!".
"I am invariably late for appointments.. sometimes as much as two hours. I've tried to change my ways but the things that make me late are too strong and too pleasing..".
"If I had observed all the rules, I'd never have gotten anywhere".
"I'm not the girl next door. I'm not a goody-goody, but I think I'm human".

"I love a natural look in pictures. I like people with a feeling one way or another - it shows an inner life. I like to see that there's something going on inside them."

"My problem is that I drive myself... I'm trying to become an artist, and to be true, and sometimes I feel I'm on the verge of craziness, I'm just trying to get the truest part of myself out, and it's very hard. There are times when I think, 'All I have to be is true'. But sometimes it doesn't come out so easily. I always have this secret feeling that I'm really a fake or something, a phony."

"They were terribly strict. They didn't mean any harm...it was their religion. They brought me up harshly. - on living with the Bolenders when she was a little girl "

"I was surprised to be so crazy about Joe. I expected a flashy New York sports type, and instead I met this reserved guy who didn't make a pass at me right away! He treated me like something special. Joe is a very decent man, and he makes other people feel decent too. - on meeting Joe DiMaggio for the first time "

"Joe hates crowds and glamour. - explaining why Joe DiMaggio didn't come on one of her USO tours"

"My marriage didn't make me sad, but it didn't make me happy either. My husband and I hardly spoke to each other. This wasn't because we were angry. We had nothing to say. I was dying of boredom. - on why she divorced James Dougherty"

"I didn't want to give up my career, and that's what Joe wanted me to do most of all. - on why her marriage to Joe DiMaggio couldn't work"

"I want to be a big star more than anything. It's something precious."

"Jean Harlow was my idol. - on her favorite actress, the first platinum blonde"

"The world around me then was kind of grim. I had to learn to pretend in order to - I don't know - block the grimness. The whole world seemed sort of closed to me... [I felt] on the outside of everything, and all I could do was to dream up any kind of pretend game. - on drifting in and out of orphanages when she was little"

"Grace McKee arranged the marriage for me, I never had a choice. There's not much to say about it. They couldn't support me, and they had to work out something. And so I got married. - on her early marriage to James Dougherty"

"I had the radio on. [Q. Did you have anything on?]"

"Chanel No. 5. [Q. What do you wear to bed?]"

"I'm not interested in money, I just want to be wonderful."

"A career is wonderful, but you can't curl up with it on a cold night."

"Sometimes I think it would be easier to avoid old age, to die, young, but then you'd never complete your life, would you? You'd never wholly know yourself..."

"A dollar for your thoughts..."

"I've been on a calendar, but never on time."

"No one ever told me I was pretty when I was a little girl. All little girls should be told they're pretty, even if they aren't."

"In Hollywood a girl's virtue is much less important than her hairdo. You're judged by how you look, not by what you are. Hollywood's a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for kiss, and fifty cents for your soul. I know, because I turned down the first offer often enough and held out for the fifty."

"Dogs never bite me. Just humans."