39 Famous Marilyn Monroe Quotes on Beauty, Life, and Love

One of the most iconic Hollywood stars of all time, Marilyn Monroe was mistakenly believed to be an airhead. In fact, not only she was smart, but she was also clever, witty and had a sharp sense of humor.

Here are the most famous Marilyn Monroe quotes on life, beauty, self-worth, love, and career. followed by her best movie quotes. Note the extent to which those differ!

Marilyn Monroe Quotes on Life

People believe she had no talent and was just lucky that some Hollywood producers discovered her. Still, she worked very hard on every part and her perseverance was admirable.

• “A wise girl knows her limits, a smart girl knows that she has none.”
• “Sometimes things fall apart, so that better things can fall together.”
• “We should all start to live before we get too old.”
• “Most importantly, keep smiling. Because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.”
• “I defy gravity.”
•  “I don’t forgive people because I’m weak, I forgive them because I am strong enough to know people make mistakes.”

Quotes on Self-Worth

Marilyn embraced her femininity and sexuality. She proudly celebrated being a woman and believed that this is a gift that every woman should be aware of. Surprisingly, she knew how to believe in herself and still inspires us through decades to be true to ourselves even – and especially – when the going gets tough.

• “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.”
• “Millions of people live their entire lives without finding themselves. But it is something I must do.”
• “One of the best things that ever happened to me is that I’m a woman. That is the way all females should feel.”
• Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”
• “We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle.”
• “Always, always, always believe in yourself. Because if you don’t then who will, sweetie?”
• “The nicest thing for me is sleep, then at least I can dream.”
• “If there is only one thing in my life that I am proud of, it’s that I’ve never been a kept woman.”

Marilyn Monroe Beauty Quotes

The sex symbol of several generations, Marilyn praised natural beauty. Despite rumors on her plastic surgery, she didn’t admit to any surgical interventions. Obviously, she was asked a lot about beauty and her answers were undeniably sprinkled with witty humor.

• “If you’re gonna be two-faced at least make one of them pretty.”
• “I dress for men. A woman looks at your clothes critically. A man appreciates them.”
• “Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world.”
• “A smile is the best makeup a girl can wear.”
• “What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No.5, of course.”

Career Quotes by Marilyn Monroe

• “A career is wonderful, but you can’t curl up with it on a cold night.”
• “Hollywood is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.”
• “A career is born in public – talent in privacy.”
• “I don’t stop when I’m tired. I only stop when I’m done.”
• “If I’d observed all the rules, I’d never got anywhere.”

Love Quotes by Marilyn Monroe

• “I don’t mind living in a man’s world as long as I can be a woman in it.”
• “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.”
• “If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything.”
• “It’s better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone — so far.”
• “I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love.”
• “Boys think girls are like books. If the cover doesn’t catch their eye they won’t bother to read what’s inside.”
• “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.”

Quotes on money and fame

• “I don’t want to make money, I just want to be wonderful.”
• “Fame is like caviar, you know — it’s good to have caviar but not when you have it at every meal.”

The Most Famous Quote From Marilyn Monroe

Arguably, her most popular saying was about the right shoes to conquer the world, however, that really depends.

Famous Marilyn Monroe Quotes from Movies

We’ve reviewed the best Marilyn Monroe movies, now it’s time to go through the iconic lines from her movies. In most of them, she played a part of an airhead golddigger who initially was only interested in money. By the end of the movie, she usually managed to prove herself charming to such an extent that her attraction to diamonds and wealth didn’t seem to bother anyone.

– Lady Beekman: It’s a tiara.
– Lorelei Lee: You do wear it on your head. I just love finding new places to wear diamonds. I always say a kiss on the hand might feel very good, but a diamond tiara lasts forever.

Gentelmen Prefer Blondes

“Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”

Gentelmen Prefer Blondes

– Dorothy Shaw: Honey, did it ever occur to you that some people just don’t care about money?
– Lorelei Lee: Please, we’re talking serious here.

Gentelmen Prefer Blondes

“Don’t you know that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? You wouldn’t marry a girl just because she’s pretty, but my goodness, doesn’t it help?”

Gentelmen Prefer Blondes

“I don’t care how rich he is, as long as he has a yacht, his own private railroad car, and his own toothpaste.”

Some Like It Hot

“- Junior: Look, if all you’re interested in is whether I am married or not…
– Sugar Kane Kowalczyk: Oh, I’m not interested at all.
– Junior: Well, I’m not.
– Sugar Kane Kowalczyk: That’s very interesting!”

Some Like It Hot

Conclusion

Contrary to her blonde hair image engrained in our culture, after reviewing famous Marilyn Monroe quotes, we see that she was a deep and thoughtful woman that radiated sincerity and warmth. Given her life ended as a tragedy, it seems that Marilyn had a chance to appreciate the happy moments.

If you’d like to learn more about her personality, check out our overview of the movies about Marilyn Monroe.

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