Marilyn Monroe attained international fame as a film and television actress, a model, and a pop culture icon. Her troubled personal life has been the subject of intense public scrutiny.
Born Norma Jeane Mortenson in 1926, she was the second child of Gladys Baker Mortenson (née Monroe) and her second husband, Edward Mortenson. Marilyn’s mother was notoriously neglectful, and her father alternated between neglect and abuse; she later lived with foster parents who were less than kind.
Marilyn’s childhood experiences have been characterized as lonely and unhappy with few positive memories from the time. The same has been said for much of her early adulthood, during which she began to take on minor acting roles, which led to larger ones that he starred in for many years before becoming one of Hollywood’s
Here are some of the most inspirational quotes by Marilyn Monroe on love and life.
Here are 120 Greatest Marilyn Monroe Quotes On Love And Life
“First, I’m trying to prove to myself that I’m a person. Then maybe I’ll convince myself that I’m an actress.”
“Dreaming about being an actress is more exciting than being one.”
“Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.”
“The real lover is the man who can thrill you just by touching your head or smiling into your eyes — or just by staring into space.”
“I don’t forgive people because I’m weak, I forgive them because I am strong enough to know people make mistakes.”
“It’s nice to be included in people’s fantasies but you also like to be accepted for your own sake.”
“Your clothes should be tight enough to show you’re a woman but loose enough to show you’re a lady.”
“All a girl really wants is for one guy to prove to her that they are not all the same.”
“You better believe when the conversation is getting shorter with you… it’s getting longer with someone else.”
“Imperfection is beauty. Madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”
“A wise girl kisses but doesn’t love, listens but doesn’t believe, and leaves before she is left.”
“Arthur Miller wouldn’t have married me if I had been nothing but a dumb blonde.”
“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.”
“Be real, be yourself, be unique, be true, be honest, be humble, be happy…”
“Everyone’s a star and deserves the right to twinkle.”
“I want to do the best that I can do in that moment, when the camera starts, until it stops.”
“For those who are poor in happiness, each time is a first time; happiness never becomes a habit.”
“I think that when you are famous every weakness is exaggerated.”
“Respect is one of life’s greatest treasures. I mean, what does it all add up to if you don’t have that?”
“Men who think that a woman’s past love affairs lessen her love for them are usually stupid and weak.”
“I dress for men. A woman looks at your clothes critically. A man appreciates them.”
“I want to grow old without facelifts. I want to have the courage to be loyal to the face I have made.”
“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times tough to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.”
“A girl knows her limits but a wise girl knows she has none.”
“I think that love and work are the only things that really happen to us.”
“If you can’t handle me at my worst you don’t deserve me at my best.”
“I’d like to show that I can get publicity without using my ass or getting fired from a picture.”
“Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”
“Before marriage, a girl has to make love to a man to hold him. After marriage, she has to hold him to make love to him.”
“Always remember to smile and look up at what you got in life.”
“A girl doesn’t need anyone who doesn’t need her.”
“I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil, and I am just a small girl in a big world. Trying to find someone to love.”
“Sometimes you just have to throw on a crown and remind them who they’re dealing with.”
“Keep smiling because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.”
“We should all start to live before we get old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets.”
“A wise girl knows her limits, a smart girl knows that she has none.”
“Just because you fail once doesn’t mean you’re gonna fail at everything.”
“That’s the way you feel when you’re beaten inside. You don’t feel angry at those who’ve beaten you. You just feel ashamed.”
“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.”
“I don’t know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot!”
“There isn’t anybody that looks like me without clothes on.”
“When it comes down to it, let them think what they want. If they care enough to bother with what I do, then I’m already better than them anyway.”
“Sweetie, if you’re going to be two-faced, at least make one of them pretty.”
“If I worry about other bitches, I’d be just like them… another worried b***h.”
“I only know I want to be wonderful.”
“I don’t stop when I’m tired. I only stop when I’m done.”
“Fame is like caviar, you know — it’s good to have caviar but not when you have it at every meal.”
“I’m one of the world’s most self-conscious people. I really have to struggle.”
“A strong man doesn’t have to be dominant toward a woman. He doesn’t match his strength against a woman weak with love for him. He matches it against the world.”
“I’ve spent most of my life running away from myself.”
“The way you carry yourself is influenced by the way you feel inside. You must feel attractive to be attractive.”
“She was a girl who knew how to be happy even when she was sad. And that’s important.”
“When you’re young and healthy you can plan on Monday to commit suicide, and by Wednesday you’re laughing again.”
“The nicest thing for me is sleep, then at least I can dream.”
“This life is what you make it. No matter what, you’re going to mess up sometimes, it’s a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you’re going to mess it up.”
“A wise girl knows her limits, a smart girl knows that she has none.”
“I live to succeed, not to please you or anyone else.”
“The real lover is the man who can thrill you by kissing your forehead or smiling into your eyes or just staring into space.”
“I don’t mind being burdened with being glamorous and sexual. But what goes with it can be a burden.”
“The nicest thing for me is sleep, then at least I can dream.”
“I don’t look at myself as a commodity, but I’m sure a lot of people have.”
“You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself.”
“Always, always, always believe in yourself. Because if you don’t then who will, sweetie?”
“Frankly, I’ve never considered my own figure so exceptional; until quite recently, I seldom gave it any thought at all.”
“Success makes so many people hate you. I wish it wasn’t that way. It would be wonderful to enjoy success without seeing envy in the eyes of those around you.”
“Boys think girls are like books, If the cover doesn’t catch their eye they won’t bother to read what’s inside.”
“I don’t mind making jokes, but I don’t want to look like one.”
“I’m selfish, impatient, and insecure. I make mistakes. I am out of control and at times, hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you don’t deserve me at my best.”
“Dogs never bite me. Just humans.”
“Everybody is always tugging at you. They’d all like a sort of chunk out of you. I don’t think they realize it, but it’s like ‘grrr do this, grr do that…’But you do want to stay intact and on two feet.”
“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I’m out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you don’t deserve me at my best.”
“A friend tells you what you want to hear; a best friend tells you the truth.”
“I learned to walk as a baby and I haven’t had a lesson since.”
“This life is what you make it. No matter what, you’re going to mess up sometimes, it’s a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you’re going to mess it up. Girls will be your friends – they’ll act like it anyway. But just remember, some come, some go. The ones that stay with you through everything – they’re your true best friends. Don’t let go of them.”
“I don’t mind living in a man’s world as long as I can be a woman in it.”
“We should all start to live before we get too old.”
“One of the best things that ever happened to me is that I’m a woman. That is the way all females should feel.”
“I think there’s two things in human beings… that they want to be alone, but they also want to be together.”
“When it comes down to it, I let them think what they want. If they care enough to bother with what I do, then I’m already better than them anyway.”
“A man is more frank and sincere with his emotions than a woman. We girls, I’m afraid, have a tendency to hide our feelings.”
“Millions of people live their entire lives without finding themselves. But it is something I must do.”
“I defy gravity.”
“Fear is stupid. So are regrets.”
“My work is the only ground I’ve ever had to stand on. I seem to have a whole superstructure with no foundation but I’m working on the foundation.”
“I don’t consider myself an intellectual. And this is not one of my aims. But I admire intellectual people.”
“Fame is fickle, and I know it. It has its compensations but it also has its drawbacks, and I’ve experienced them both.”
“Sometimes I feel my whole life has been one big rejection.”
“I think that sexuality is only attractive when it’s natural and spontaneous.”
“It’s better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone — so far.”
“If there is only one thing in my life that I am proud of, it’s that I’ve never been a kept woman.”
“I am trying to find myself. Sometimes that’s not easy.”
“A woman can’t be alone. She needs a man. A man and a woman support and strengthen each other. She just can’t do it by herself.”
“I don’t want to make money. I just want to be wonderful.”
“I’m very definitely a woman and I enjoy it.”
“Fear is stupid, so are regrets.”
“If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything.”
“I have feelings too. I am still human. All I want is to be loved, for myself and for my talent.”
“I’m a failure as a woman. My men expect so much of me, because of the image they’ve made of me– and that I’ve made of myself– as a sex symbol. They expect bells to ring and whistles to whistle, but my anatomy is the same as any other woman’s and I can’t live up to it.”
“I restore myself when I’m alone.”
“I always felt insecure and in the way, but most of all I felt scared. I guess I wanted love more than anything else in the world.”
“I restore myself when I’m alone.”
“If I’d observed all the rules, I’d never got anywhere.”
“With fame, you know, you can read about yourself, somebody else’s ideas about you, but what’s important is how you feel about yourself – for survival and living day to day with what comes up.”
“Sometimes I’ve been to a party where no one spoke to me for a whole evening. The men, frightened by their wives or sweeties, would give me a wide berth. And the ladies would gang up in a corner to discuss my dangerous character. ”
“A man has a tendency to accept you the way you are, while most women immediately start to pick flaws and want to change you.”
“Fame is fickle, and I know it. It has its compensations but it also has its drawbacks, and I’ve experienced them both.
“I think one of the basic reasons men make good friends is that they can make up their minds quickly.”
“We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle.”
“If I’m a star, then the people made me a star.”
“Creativity has got to start with humanity and when you’re a human being, you feel, you suffer.”
“Fame will go by and, so long, I’ve had you, Fame. If it goes by, I’ve always known it was fickle.”
“Keep smiling because life is a beautiful thing, and there’s so much to smile about.”
“I never wanted to be Marilyn – it just happened. Marilyn’s like a veil I wear over Norma Jeane.”
“I want to grow old without facelifts… I want to have the courage to be loyal to the face I’ve made. 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 you.”
“One of the best things that ever happened to me is that I’m a woman. That is the way all females should feel.”
“The most unsatisfactory men are those who pride themselves on their virility and regard sex as if it were some form of athletics at which you can win cups. It is a woman’s spirit and mood a man has to stimulate in order to make sex interesting. The real lover is the man who can thrill you just by touching your head or smiling into your eyes or by just staring into space.”
“You never know what life is like, until you have lived it.”
“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”
“A woman knows by intuition, or instinct, what is best for herself.”
“I won’t be satisfied until people want to hear me sing without looking at me. Of course, that doesn’t mean I want them to stop looking.”
