Dolly Rebecca Parton is a famous American singer, songwriter and actor. Parton was born on 19th January 1946 near the Little Pigeon River banks in Pittman Center, Tennessee. She was born to Avie Lee Caroline and Robert Lee Parton Sr. They say that Parton derives her middle name from her maternal great-great-grandmother Rebecca (Dunn) Whitted. Despite her family's poor conditions, Parton became quite intelligent and smart.
Parton made her album debut in 1967 with "Hello, I'm Dolly". This particular album led to her success during the era of 1960s. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, she became all the more famous. Parton's albums achieved great commercial success, and she has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
Parton has had 25 songs reach No. 1 on the Billboard country music charts. She has 44 career Top 10 country albums. Besides that, she has 110 career-charted singles over the past 40 years. She has won 10 Grammy Awards and has 50 Grammy nominations in her kitty. This also includes the Lifetime Achievement Award of 2011. Dolly Parton is perhaps the most renowned and well honoured female artist of all times.
Dolly Parton's career has allegedly topped 100 million records around the world. Thus, she truly forms a story of inspiration.
Below are some of the famous Dolly Parton quotes...
The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.
A rainbow cannot be visible if there's no rain in the sky. Thus, to watch something beautiful or to achieve something, one has to bear with the toil and pains before. If there's no thunderstorm, there would be no rain. No rain means no rainbow. Thus, one struggle leads to another, which is why Parton says that she's ready to tolerate rain to witness rainbow.
It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.
This statement is quite paradoxical. On the one hand, it is the idea of spending a lot of money. On the other hand is the opposite of it: looking cheap by spending a lot of money. Thus, what's being said is that to look in a particular way which doesn't form a person's true nature, a lot of money is needed. A rich actress becoming poor in a movie implies she has to spend a lot to look poor.
Find out who you are and do it on purpose.
Finding oneself is extremely crucial. This means that one should find their true passion and what they want to achieve in life. Similarly, getting familiar with our own identity and reality is crucial. Thus, Parton is motivating us here to search for our true identity within ourselves, and she further asks us to do it on purpose. That's because only a purposeful search leads to brilliant results.
Storms make trees take deeper roots.
Do you observe how nature adapts itself to the natural calamities? Whenever a storm comes, the plants adjust accordingly, and they take deeper roots in the soil. This means that the storm helped them in anchoring strongly to ground. This is how humans should operate too. As and when any challenges come up, humans should adapt to the changes and emerge stronger.
If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one.
A human being is responsible for whatever he/she/they do. This involves career choices, personal matters etc. So if during life, you feel that the road you have taken doesn't please you anymore, then just leave that path. Instead, start making your way which would help you do what you like doing.
We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.
Not everything is in our control. While the human agency is an important component of individual choices, there may be natural hindrances in our path. However, rather than grudging over the problems, one should learn to innovatively look at them. For say, you definitely can't control a natural fury like a thunderstorm. But you can surely change the course of your ship to avoid it.
You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try.
Trying something new and exciting should be every human's priority. If we always stay in the constant fear of not doing things perfectly, we would never be able to do things at all. Thus, we should be brave enough to try new things. Only then will you do great things.
It's a good thing I was born a girl, otherwise, I'd be a drag queen
Dolly Parton is extremely proud of her identity as a woman in this quote. She says that it was a good thing that she was born a girl. Had she not been born a girl, she would have still dressed up as a woman. Thus, the conclusion is that she's extremely confident in being a woman.
If you talk bad about country music, it's like saying bad things about my momma. Them's fightin' words.
Parton makes all kinds of songs. These mostly include those that are historically or traditionally sung in their families. Thus, Parton doesn't want anyone to speak foul about country music because she has got it as a legacy from her mother. Put in simple words, country music has a rich history, indeed!
It's hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.
Differentiating between diamond and rhinestone becomes an extremely difficult task. This is so because both look almost alike. Thus, by juxtaposing these two stones, Parton aims to tell us that holding one's authentic value in this fake world is hard. Being real and genuine in the world of fake identities is too tough a task.
I'm not going to limit myself just because people won't accept the fact that I can do something else.
If you are doing multiple things simultaneously, people will either praise you or just go to dismiss you. The second kind of people- those who dismiss, just limit your potential to a few things. Yet you should never limit yourself to only a few things just because people are not accepting towards your talent.
Don't get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.
Being successful in your life is something that we all want to achieve. Making money and buying expensive things also form a crucial part of living a luxurious life. However, if you get too lost or busy in only trying to make a living, you hardly get any time to live your life. One should enjoy their life in whatever way they can and not have any regrets later.
I tried every diet in the book. I tried some that weren't in the book. I tried eating the book. It tasted better than most of the diets.
Women are mostly expected by society to have perfect slim bodies. They are expected to do dieting to achieve those set beauty standards. Yet Parton ultimately says that she eats a book, which means that she reads and studies a book. Thus, she is encouraging all young women to give more importance to education as that is even better than diets.
I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb - and I'm not blonde either
As a famous songwriter or actress, you may have to face a lot of criticism from the public. Besides positive criticism, it can be things like jokes cracked on you or your appearance. While this kind of trolling can leave one stressed, Parton is reverting to her trollers. She says that being called "dumb blonde" doesn't affect her as she is neither dumb nor blonde.
My weaknesses have always been food and men - in that order.
This is truly a very witty and funny quote at the same time. As we know, Parton lived and is still living her life to the fullest. She loves food and men both. This means that she has been into some great courtship experiences and has eaten some great food too. Thus, both these things form her weakness because she can't seem to resist the temptation of both.
I was the first woman to burn my bra - it took the fire department four days to put it out.
Well, one can find a tinge of feminism in this Parton quote. Burning a bra is a symbol of smashing the patriarchy and male dominance. It's a powerful metaphor of independence and freedom. Thus, Parton is poking fun at the fact that after having burnt her bra, it took the fire department almost four days to extinguish it. Perhaps she's saying that her feminine power is immensely strong!
When someone shows you their true colours, believe them.
Yet again, a very bluntly honest quote by Parton this is!
If you ever find out the truth behind someone's extra sweet behaviour, just believe that reality. Similarly, if people themselves show you their true colours, you do not need to reject them. Rather you should consider it as their reality and just get away from them. Put in simple words, if you don't like the reality of someone's life, believe them or move away.
Smile -- it increases your face value
Smiling is an extremely important element of acting and singing on stage. Parton is an epitome of smiling, which she beautifully encapsulates in this above quote. Rather than encouraging us to wear heavy makeup, she asks us to smile because that's what makes one beautiful. Smiling is a boon to your face because smiling faces are extremely valuable for their purity and innocence.
The magic is inside you. there ain't no crystal ball
We all must have believed in magic at some point in time. Especially during childhood, we would have believed in all kinds of myths of crystal ball doing some amazing miracles. Yet is there a crystal ball as such? Well, not really. The real magic is within yourself. It's your determination and efforts which will come together and help you do magic in your life!
When I got somethin' to say, I'll say it.
Saying your heart or speaking your mind for that matter is not easy. Especially when you are a woman who is ideally expected to stay quiet. However, Parton just speaks what she feels, which is an inspiration for other girls and women not to hold themselves back from freely expressing themselves in public.
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