100+ Inspiring Marilyn Monroe Quotes for Self-Discovery and Growth

It’s far better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone.

A girl doesn’t need anyone who doesn’t need her.

I think that se*uality is only attractive when it’s natural and spontaneous.

To all the girls that think you’re fat because you’re not a size zero, you’re the beautiful one. It’s a society that’s ugly.

Boys think girls are like books. If the cover doesn’t catch their eye they won’t bother to read what’s inside.

I live to succeed, not to please you or anyone else.

The nicest thing for me is sleep, then at least I can dream.

This is a free and democratic country and no one has a monopoly on anything.

A strong man doesn’t have to be dominant toward a woman. He doesn’t match his strength against a woman weak in love for him. He matches it against the world.

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.

I don’t stop when I’m tired. I only stop when I’m done.

In Hollywood, a girl’s virtue is much less important than her hairdo. You’re judged by how you look, not by what you are. Hollywood’s a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss, and fifty cents for your soul. I know, because I turned down the first offer often enough and held out for the fifty.

I knew I belonged to the public and to the world, not because I was talented or even beautiful, but because I had never belonged to anything or anyone else.

One of the best things that ever happened to me is that I’m a woman. That is the way all females should feel.

Arthur Miller wouldn’t have married me if I had been nothing but a dumb blonde.

Most importantly, keep smiling. Because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.

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

That’s the way you feel when you’re beaten inside. You don’t feel angry at those who’ve beaten you. You just feel ashamed.

If I’d observed all the rules, I’d never have got anywhere.

I have always been deeply terrified to really be someone’s wife since I know from life one cannot love another, ever, really.

A woman knows by intuition or instinct, what is best for herself.

I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love.

Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.

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

We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle.

A wise girl knows her limits, a smart girl knows that she has none.

I don’t mind being burdened with being glamorous and sexual. 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.

Your clothes should be tight enough to show you’re a woman but loose enough to show you’re a lady.

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

We should all start to live before we get too old.

I’m selfish, impatient, and insecure. I make mistakes. I am out of control and at times, hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you don’t deserve me at my best.

Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.

I’m pretty but not beautiful. I sin but I’m not the devil. I’m good but I’m not an angel.

I love to do the things the censors won’t pass.

If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything.

The way you carry yourself is influenced by the way you feel inside. You must feel attractive to be attractive.

I’ve never fooled anyone. I’ve let people fool themselves. They didn’t bother to find out who and what I was. Instead, they would invent a character for me. I wouldn’t argue with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn’t.

Fear is stupid. So are regrets.

I don’t want to make money. I just want to be wonderful.

If I play a stupid girl and ask a stupid question, I’ve got to follow it through, what am I supposed to do, look intelligent?

No one ever told me I was pretty when I was a little girl. All little girls should be told they’re pretty, even if they aren’t.

A wise girl kisses but doesn’t love, listens but doesn’t believe, and leaves before she is left.

If I’d observed all the rules, I’d never got anywhere.

I don’t consider myself an intellectual. And this is not one of my aims. But I admire intellectual people.

Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.

I’m one of the world’s most self-conscious people. I really have to struggle.

Most men judge your importance in their lives by how much you can hurt them.

Always, always, always believe in yourself. Because if you don’t then who will, sweetie.

Sometimes I feel my whole life has been one big rejection.

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

Fame is fickle, and I know it. It has its compensations but it also has its drawbacks, and I’ve experienced them both.

We are all stars but we must learn how to shine.

I don’t understand why people aren’t a little more generous with each other.

With fame, you know, you can read about yourself, and somebody else’s ideas about you, but what’s important is how you feel about yourself – for survival and living day to day with what comes up.

When it comes down to it, I let them think about what they want. If they care enough to bother with what I do, then I’m already better than them.

I think that love and work are the only things that really happen to us.

This life is what you make it. No matter what, you’re going to mess up sometimes, it’s a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you’re going to mess it up.

I think there are two things in human beings…that they want to be alone, but they also want to be together.

Creativity has got to start with humanity and when you’re a human being, you feel, you suffer.

First, I’m trying to prove to myself that I’m a person. Then maybe I’ll convince myself that I’m an actress.

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

If there is only one thing in my life that I am proud of, it’s that I’ve never been a kept woman.

I don’t know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot!

I always felt insecure and in the way, but most of all I felt scared. I guess I wanted love more than anything else in the world.

A man is more frank and sincere with his emotions than a woman. We girls, I’m afraid, have a tendency to hide our feelings.

It’s often just enough to be with someone. I don’t need to touch them. Not even talk. A feeling passes between you both. You’re not alone.

I think I’m a mixture of simplicity and complexity, but I’m beginning to understand myself now.

Fame is like caviar, you know—it’s good to have caviar but not when you have it at every meal.

It’s nice to be included in people’s fantasies but you also like to be accepted for your own sake.

I have feelings too. I am still human. All I want is to be loved, for myself, and for my talent.

I don’t forgive people because I’m weak, I forgive them because I am strong enough to know people make mistakes.

I’m very definitely a woman and I enjoy it.

Always remember to smile and look up at what you got in life.

What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No.5, of course.

A strong man doesn’t have to be dominant toward a woman. He doesn’t match his strength against a woman weak in love for him. He matches it against the world.

I don’t want to make money, I just want to be wonderful.

A friend tells you what you want to hear; a best friend tells you the truth.

I don’t look at myself as a commodity, but I’m sure people have.

For those who are poor in happiness, each time is the first time; happiness never becomes a habit.

Fame is like caviar, you know—it’s good to have caviar but not when you have it at every meal.

I think one of the basic reasons men make good friends is that they can make up their minds quickly.

Sisters make the best friends in the world.

Men who think that a woman’s past love affairs lessen her love for them are usually stupid and weak.

I am trying to find myself. Sometimes that’s not easy.

You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself.

For life: it is rather a determination not to be overwhelmed. For work: the truth can only be recalled, never invented.

The truth is, I’ve never fooled anyone. I’ve let men sometimes fool themselves.

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.

I am not a victim of emotional conflicts. I am human.

Beneath the makeup and behind the smile, I am just a girl who wishes for the world.

People had a habit of looking at me as if I were some kind of mirror instead of a person. They didn’t see me, they saw their own lewd thoughts, then they white-masked themselves by calling me the lewd one.

Looking back, I guess I used to play-act all the time. For one thing, it meant I could live in a more interesting world than the one around me.