When I first came to Nashville, people hardly gave country music any respect. We lived in old cars and dirty hotels, and we ate when we could.

I try to visit people in hospitals when I can, smiling and joking while I’m there. But when I leave, I just start crying.

I’ve been married to the same man for all this time. The way we fight sometimes, you can tell.

Really, I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I retire. Wash dishes?

I never rode in an automobile until I was 12.

Back then, we didn’t know we were poor, and people were more proud then.

I know what it’s like to be pregnant and nervous and poor.

I’m not a big fan of Women’s Liberation, but maybe it will help women stand up for the respect they’re due.

I’ve always been full of nervous energy, but I’m not really as happy as I seem.

I’m always making Butcher Holler sound like the most backward part of the United States-and I think maybe it is.

Being on stage is the best part of my career. I just say whatever comes into my head. It’s the only time I feel grown-up and in control of things.

I’ve been around a long time, and life still has a whole lot of surprises for me.

I believe in horoscopes. I was born under the sign of the Ram, which means I’m headstrong, don’t like people telling me what to do.

I was married when I wasn’t quite 14 and had four babies by the time I was 18.

I believe in education and wish I had a better one.

We still lend our old house out to relatives. They keep a guest book for my fans to sign.

The country is making a big mistake not teaching kids to cook and raise a garden and build fires.

We used to go around tipping outhouses over, or turning over corn shocks on Halloween. Anything to be mean.

The night I announced I was getting married, Daddy paced for hours on the porch.

Once in a while I get inspired and finish my act with the hillbilly hoedown.

In the long run, you make your own luck – good, bad, or indifferent.

Doo never actually made moonshine, but he hauled about an ocean of it.

I avoid going through places where there’s too much poverty.

I think Charley Pride has been one of the best things to happen to country music, to prove it belongs to everybody.

My biggest hero, Gregory Peck, was my birthday present on April 14, 1973. I just sat and stared at him.

I love people and I love to sing, and that’s what keeps me going.

My attitude toward men who mess around is simple: If you find ’em, kill ’em.

I never knew any Jews until I got into show business. I’ve found them to be real smart and good workers.

I don’t go to church regular. But I pray for answers to my problems.

I was the first woman ever named Entertainer of the Year in country music.

Because Olivia Newton-John wasn’t from Nashville, they didn’t like her winning our awards. I’ve got no complaints.

Some of my friends who know me best say they wouldn’t trade places with me for $1 million because of the pace I lead.

There’s more women stars in Nashville all the time. They’re proving they can do the job the same as a man.

When I’d tell people I like country music they’d get this look on their faces. People were kind of ashamed of country.

Do the best you can with yourself and hope for the best.

I didn’t know how babies were made until I was pregnant with my fourth child.

A woman’s two cents worth is worth two cents in the music business.

I wasn’t for Vietnam. When I told that to the hippie newspaper, all my people got nervous.

I refuse to be pushed around anymore.

I’ve seen every highway in the United States, and they all look alike to me.

You ain’t supposed to get salmon when they’re swimming upstream to spawn. But if you’re hungry, you do.

I’d love to travel to the Holy Land.

I don’t like to talk about things where you’re going to gt one side or the other unhappy. My music has no politics.

Doolittle looked just like a little toy soldier the first time I ever saw him.

I loved being outside. We’d hold lightning bugs in our fingers and pretend they were diamond rings.

I want more out of life than I’ve gotten.

You can’t be halfway in this business. If you don’t meet the fans, you lose all you’ve got.

I wouldn’t have dared ask God for all that He’s given me. I couldn’t have done it on my own. I thank God every day for what I have.

I’m trying to lead a good Christian life, so there ain’t too much spicy to tell about me.

Who wants to be married to a grandfather?

You get used to sadness, growing up in the mountains, I guess.

Mommy smoked but she didn’t want us to. She saw smoke coming out of the barn one time, so we got whipped.

Nobody’s perfect. The only one that ever was, was crucified.

I’m proud of being part Cherokee, and I think it’s time all us Indians felt the same way.

When something is bothering me, I write a song that tells my feelings.

I’d love to work more with the American Indians, my people.

My life has run from misery to happiness.

I know there’s some kind of history to mountain music-like it came from Ireland or England or Scotland and we kept up the tradition.

How do you measure your value?

Me and my partner, Conway Twitty, cleaned up at the 1972 Country Music Association Awards.

I get along with all the women singers, but especially Dolly Parton. We talk the same hillbilly language.

Growing up in eastern Kentucky like I did, I’m used to having a few guns around to protect me.

When I first came to Nashville, people hardly gave country music any respect. We lived in old cars and dirty hotels, and we ate when we could.

A lot of people say I’d miss show business if I quit. I’d miss some of it. Now it’s the only life I know.

Sometimes I think our problems are made worse by the kind of business we’re in. Playing these road shows is a weird experience.

I’ve seen country music go uptown, like we say, and I’m proud I was there when it happened.

There’s always been a man telling me what to do.

When all those city folks try to fix up my talking, all they do is mess me up.

Daddy was real gentle with kids. That’s why I expected so much out of marriage, figuring that all men should be steady and pleasant.

I ain’t got much education, but I got some sense.

I won all the blue ribbons for canning at the state fair.