Some Like It Hot

20 Quotes That Prove Why Marilyn Monroe Is and Will Always Be Our Queen

I could tell you all about rejection.
M.J. Pack
August 5, 2016
“I could tell you all about rejection. Sometimes I feel my whole life has been one big rejection... Look at me now.”
— Marilyn Monroe, The Lost Marilyn Monroe Nudes: Outtakes from Her Last On-Set Shoot Revealed in June’s V.F.
Tagged: Rejection, empowerment, Loving Yourself, perseverance
“A woman came up to me asked, ‘You mean to say you didn’t have anything on when you had that calendar picture taken?’ I drew myself up and told her, ‘I did, too, have something on. I had the radio on.’”
— Marilyn Monroe, Saturday Evening Post, May 12, 1956
Tagged: empowerment, Inspirational, inspiration, standing up for yourself
“I dress for men. A woman looks at your clothes critically. A man appreciates them.”
— Marilyn Monroe, LIFE
Tagged: inspiration, Inspirational, empowerment, Fashion
“It's nice to be included in people's fantasies but you also like to be accepted for your own sake.”
— Marilyn Monroe, Great interviews of the 20th century: Marilyn Monroe interviewed by Richard Meryman
Tagged: inspiration, Inspirational, empowerment, feminism, Feminist
“It’s still about nudity. Is that all I’m good for? I’d like to show that I can get publicity without using my ass or getting fired from a picture.”
— Marilyn Monroe, The Lost Marilyn Monroe Nudes: Outtakes from Her Last On-Set Shoot Revealed in June’s V.F.
Tagged: inspiration, Inspirational, Feminist, feminism, empowerment
“I did find, too, when the world opened up that people took a lot for granted, like not only could they be friendly, but they could suddenly get overly friendly and expect an awful lot for very little.”
— Marilyn Monroe, Great interviews of the 20th century: Marilyn Monroe interviewed by Richard Meryman
Tagged: inspiration, Inspirational, Learning, empowerment
“It's not too much fun to know yourself too well or think you do—everyone needs a little conceit to carry them through and past the falls.”
— Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn and Her Monsters by Sam Kashner
Tagged: inspiration, knowing yourself, self reflection, Reflection, Inspirational
“I do not suntan because I like to feel blonde all over.”
— Marilyn Monroe, Saturday Evening Post, May 12, 1956
Tagged: inspiration, Inspirational, blonde, feeling blonde, empowerment
“Somebody was always asking me, ‘What do you sleep in, Marilyn? Do you sleep in PJs? Do you sleep in a nightie? Do you sleep raw, Marilyn?’ It’s one of those questions which make you wonder how to answer them. Then I remembered that the truth is the easiest way out, so I said, ‘I sleep in Chanel Number Five,’ because I do.”
— Marilyn Monroe, Saturday Evening Post, May 12, 1956
Tagged: inspiration, Inspirational, Truth, glamor, perfume
“I guess I've always had too much fantasy to be only a housewife.”
— Marilyn Monroe, Great interviews of the 20th century: Marilyn Monroe interviewed by Richard Meryman
Tagged: housewife, empowerment, Against Domestic Life
“I think I’m a mixture of simplicity and complexes, but I’m beginning to understand myself now.”
— Marilyn Monroe, Saturday Evening Post, May 12, 1956
Tagged: inspiration, Inspirational, Simplicity, complex, self awareness, empowerment, Understanding
“This is supposed to be an art form, not just a manufacturing establishment. The sensitivity that helps me to act, you see, also makes me react. An actor is supposed to be a sensitive instrument. Isaac Stern takes good care of his violin. What if everybody jumped on his violin?”
— Marilyn Monroe, Great interviews of the 20th century: Marilyn Monroe interviewed by Richard Meryman
Tagged: inspiration, Inspirational, Acting, actors, Sensitivity
“Fame has a special burden, which I might as well state here and now. I don't mind being burdened with being glamorous and sexual. But what goes with it can be a burden.”
— Marilyn Monroe, Great interviews of the 20th century: Marilyn Monroe interviewed by Richard Meryman
Tagged: inspiration, Inspirational, Fame, Fortune, glamor, sexuality
“I feel that beauty and femininity are ageless and can't be contrived, and glamour, although the manufacturers won't like this, cannot be manufactured. Not real glamour; it's based on femininity.”
— Marilyn Monroe, Great interviews of the 20th century: Marilyn Monroe interviewed by Richard Meryman
Tagged: inspiration, Inspirational, beauty, femininity, Glamour, feminine
“We are all born sexual creatures, thank God, but it's a pity so many people despise and crush this natural gift. Art, real art, comes from it, everything.”
— Marilyn Monroe, Great interviews of the 20th century: Marilyn Monroe interviewed by Richard Meryman
Tagged: inspiration, Inspirational, Sex, Art, empowerment, sexuality
“Frankly, I've never considered my own figure so exceptional; until quite recently, I seldom gave it any thought at all.”
— Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Monroe's Top Shelf: Pageant Magazine, 1952
Tagged: inspiration, Inspirational, Body, body love, Self love, empowerment
“It might be a kind of relief to be finished. You have to start all over again.”
— Marilyn Monroe, Great interviews of the 20th century: Marilyn Monroe interviewed by Richard Meryman
Tagged: inspiration, Inspirational, Starting Over, empowerment, reinvention
“Fame will go by, and, so long, I've had you fame. If it goes by, I've always known it was fickle. So at least it's something I experienced, but that's not where I live.”
— Marilyn Monroe, Great interviews of the 20th century: Marilyn Monroe interviewed by Richard Meryman
Tagged: inspiration, Inspirational, empowerment, Self love, Fame
“I was never used to being happy, so that wasn't something I ever took for granted.”
— Marilyn Monroe, Great interviews of the 20th century: Marilyn Monroe interviewed by Richard Meryman
Tagged: inspiration, Inspirational, empowerment, Happy, Happiness
“That's the trouble, a sex symbol becomes a thing. I just hate to be a thing. But if I'm going to be a symbol of something I'd rather have it sex than some other things they've got symbols of!”
— Marilyn Monroe, Great interviews of the 20th century: Marilyn Monroe interviewed by Richard Meryman
Tagged: inspiration, Inspirational, empowerment, feminism, feminine, Sex, sexuality, sex symbol, symbol