9 x Dolly Parton in quotes that will instantly make you happy
Dolly Parton is no more and how we enjoyed her. Even until her last breath still relevant with collaborations with Sabrina Carpenter, Beyoncé and of course her niece Miley Cyrus. If you Grace and Frankie haven't seen it yet (one of the funniest series ever) you should definitely watch it because Dolly has a delightful cameo in the last season. She was a great singer and songwriter (I believe she wrote about 5000 songs in her lifetime), a devoted wife (she was together with her husband for sixty years and when he passed away last year, she found it all a lot less enjoyable), but also a quote machine. Dolly could be funny, wise, and disarmingly honest in one sentence, and fans now affectionately call her sayings “Dollyisms”. Here are my favorite quotes from her.
Who was Dolly Parton?
Dolly Parton grew up in poverty in the mountains of Tennessee, as one of twelve children, and grew into a global cultural icon with “Jolene” and “9 to 5”. Besides her musical legacy, she was known for her philanthropy, including her world-famous Imagination Library that helps millions of children worldwide access books. Legendary was her ability to summarize life, love, and self-confidence in one poignant, often humorous sentence.
9 Dolly Parton quotes
“It costs a lot of money to look this cheap!”
Perhaps her most famous one-liner, and exactly the mix of humor and self-deprecation that Dolly was loved for. She never made a secret of the fact that her look, from wigs to push-up bras, was hard work and a lot of fake.
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”
Dolly created an image that was entirely her own and never apologized for it. This quote summarizes her life philosophy in a few words.
“Storms make trees take deeper roots.”
One of her more poetic sayings, about how difficult times can actually make you stronger.
“It’s hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.”
Typical Dolly: self-deprecation wrapped in a shiny metaphor, referring to her own rhinestone image.
“When someone shows you their true colors, believe them.”
A down-to-earth life lesson from her memoirs. Funny, my stepmother Harriet Calo always told me: “If someone tells you who they are, believe them.” Because we often tend to underestimate people and not see the bad.
“Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”
A reminder from a woman who herself had a strong work ethic, but never forgot what it was all about in the end.
“Nothing’s ever easy. If it is, it ain’t worth it.”
“I’m very real where it counts, and that’s inside.”
An answer to people who judged her on her appearance, given in an interview with Barbara Walters.
“You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try.”
Dolly’s career was full of courage, from her move to Nashville to her step into film and entrepreneurship.
Dolly Parton in numbers: her life at a glance
Besides her quotes, Dolly Parton also leaves an impressive legacy on paper. An overview of facts and figures that show how great her life's work truly was.
Music
Dolly wrote an estimated five thousand songs in her career, including worldwide hits “Jolene”, “I Will Always Love You” and “9 to 5”. She released dozens of albums, sold over a hundred million records worldwide, and won eleven Grammy Awards among others.
Net worth
Estimates of her net worth vary, from about 450 million dollars according to Forbes in 2025 to 650 million dollars according to other sources. She built that wealth not only through music but also with her amusement park Dollywood, her record contracts, and numerous other business ventures.
Marriage
Dolly was married for 59 years to Carl Thomas Dean, a reclusive businessman with an asphalt company whom she met in 1964 at a laundromat in Nashville. The couple married in 1966 and kept their relationship largely out of the spotlight. Carl passed away in March 2025 at the age of 82.
Children
Dolly and Carl had no children. Dolly has indicated that this actually helped her to fully focus on her global career. However, she was a godmother to Miley Cyrus.
Pets
Over the years, Dolly had several dogs, of which Boston terrier Popeye was the most famous: she once said that he helped her through a tough time in her life. On her estate Willow Lake Plantation in Tennessee, she even had a pet cemetery built. At the time of her passing, she no longer had a dog in the house, but she adored her “godchild-dog” Billy the Kid, a French bulldog belonging to her manager. In 2022, she also launched her own dog line, Doggy Parton, part of the proceeds of which went to an animal shelter in Tennessee.
Source: https://www.dollyparton.com/
Image: Getty images
