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

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

I could tell you all about rejection.

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.

Rejection empowerment Loving Yourself perseverance

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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

empowerment Inspirational inspiration standing up for yourself

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I dress for men. A woman looks at your clothes critically. A man appreciates them.

— Marilyn Monroe, LIFE

inspiration Inspirational empowerment Fashion

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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

inspiration Inspirational empowerment feminism Feminist

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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.

inspiration Inspirational Feminist feminism empowerment

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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

inspiration Inspirational Learning empowerment

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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

inspiration knowing yourself self reflection Reflection Inspirational

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I do not suntan because I like to feel blonde all over.

— Marilyn Monroe, Saturday Evening Post, May 12, 1956

inspiration Inspirational blonde feeling blonde empowerment

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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

inspiration Inspirational Truth glamor perfume

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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

housewife empowerment Against Domestic Life

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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

inspiration Inspirational Simplicity complex self awareness empowerment Understanding

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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

inspiration Inspirational Acting actors Sensitivity

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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

inspiration Inspirational Fame Fortune glamor sexuality

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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

inspiration Inspirational beauty femininity Glamour feminine

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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

inspiration Inspirational Sex Art empowerment sexuality

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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

inspiration Inspirational Body body love Self love empowerment

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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

inspiration Inspirational Starting Over empowerment reinvention

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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

inspiration Inspirational empowerment Self love Fame

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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

inspiration Inspirational empowerment Happy Happiness

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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

inspiration Inspirational empowerment feminism feminine Sex sexuality sex symbol symbol

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