Tell me I have to be somewhere, and I’ll be there 20 minutes early and stay there longer than anybody else. You hold up a lot of people if you’re not on time. – Dolly Parton
No matter what, I always make it home for Christmas. I love to go to my Tennessee Mountain Home and invite all of my nieces and nephews and their spouses and kids and do what we all like to do – eat, laugh, trade presents and just enjoy each other… and sometimes I even dress up like Santa Claus! – Dolly Parton
I do remember how it was to be poor. I do remember that in my early years, we had to grow and raise all of our food, even our animals. And I remember in my early life, we didn’t even have electricity. So it was very, very hard times then. – Dolly Parton
When I wake up, I expect things to be good. If they’re not, then I try to set about trying to make them as good as I can ’cause I know I’m gonna have to live that day anyway. So why not try to make the most of it if you can? Some days, they pan out a little better than others, but you still gotta always just try. – Dolly Parton
When you’re 40, you can’t ride the fence anymore. You gotta make definite decisions about your life. – Dolly Parton
Of course, ‘I Will Always Love You’ is the biggest song so far in my career. I’m famous for several, but that one has been recorded by more people and made me more money, I think, than all of them. But that song did come from a true and deep place in my heart. – Dolly Parton
I’m trying my best to keep up with all this new technology, and I surround myself with all these wonderful people that are in the know and kind of help me out with all that. – Dolly Parton
I wear wigs all the time on shows, and every day when I’m in public, at Dollywood. People say, ‘How many wigs do you have?’ And I say, ‘Well, at least 365 because I wear at least one a day.’ – Dolly Parton
I think people take me as seriously as I want them to. They take me as seriously as I take myself – let’s put it that way. – Dolly Parton
Adjusting to the passage of time, I think, is a key to success and to life: just being able to roll with the punches. – Dolly Parton
For some reason, I have better luck when I work with women. I guess I have a good sense of sisterhood. – Dolly Parton
I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb… and I also know that I’m not blonde. – Dolly Parton
I always loved that old song ‘Banks of the Ohio’ – it was always such a man’s song, so I’ve always wanted to record it. – Dolly Parton
Believe it or not, I was just given an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Tennessee. – Dolly Parton
My songs are the door to every dream I’ve ever had and every success I’ve ever achieved. – Dolly Parton
Songwriting is my way of channeling my feelings and my thoughts. Not just mine, but the things I see, the people I care about. My head would explode if I didn’t get some of that stuff out. – Dolly Parton
I always ask God to work through me and let me be a light of some kind and help in this world, so I always pray for that, and I always want to do good. – Dolly Parton
Until I was a teenager, I used red pokeberries for lipstick and a burnt matchstick for eyeliner. I used honeysuckle for perfume. – Dolly Parton
I often joke that 100 years from now I hope people are saying, ‘Dang, she looks good for her age!’ – Dolly Parton
I do have a few little tattoos, but they were mostly done to cover scars because I’m so fair. – Dolly Parton