Marilyn Monroe

A sex-symbol becomes a thing, I just hate being a thing. But if I'm going to be a symbol of something I'd rather have it sex than some other things we've got symbols of.

The outside world wants me to have glamour; my fans want me glamorous. I won't let them down.

This industry should behave like a mother whose child has just run out in front of a car. But instead of clasping the child to them, they start punishing the child. Like you don't dare get a cold. How dare you get a cold! I mean, the executives can get colds and stay home forever and phone it in, but how dare you, the actor, get a cold or a virus. You know, no one feels worse than the one who's sick. I sometimes wish, gee, I wish they had to act a comedy with a temperature and a virus infection.

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

I never wanted to be Marilyn - it just happened. Marilyn's like a veil I wear over Norma Jeane.

I want to be an artist, an actress with integrity, and that includes all kinds of parts.

For a long time I was scared I'd find out I was like my mother.

A man makes you feel important - makes you glad you are a woman.

I'll think I have a few wonderful friends and all of a sudden, ooh, here it comes. They do a lot of things. They talk about you to the press, to their friends, tell stories, and you know, it's disappointing.

An actor is supposed to be a sensitive instrument.

Dreaming about being an actress, is more exciting then being one.

Millions of people live their entire lives without finding themselves. But it is something I must do.

Just because you fail once, doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don't, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.

Designers want me to dress like Spring, in billowing things. I don't feel like Spring. I feel like a warm red Autumn.

Some of my foster families used to send me to the movies to get me out of the house and there I'd sit all day and way into the night. Up in front, there with the screen so big, a little kid all alone, and I loved it. I loved anything that moved up there and I didn't miss anything that happened and there was no popcorn either.

I think that sexuality is only attractive when it's natural and spontaneous.

I feel that beauty and femininity are ageless

Fame doesn't fulfill you. It warms you a bit, but that warmth is temporary.

I think every human being knows how to hate. Because if they didn't know how to hate how to hate they wouldn't know how to love.

Love and work are the only two real things in our lives. They belong together, otherwise it is off. Work is in itself a form of love.

Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world.