Marilyn Monroe

[ Responding to a question about whether she had posed for a calendar in 1947 with nothing on :] I had the radio on.

[ Declining an invitation to a party :]

A sex symbol becomes a thing. I hate being a thing.

I want to grow old without facelifts. I want to have the courage to be loyal to the face I have made.

An actress is not a machine, but they treat you like a machine. A money machine.

I am not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful.

Ever notice that what the hell is always the right decision?

Sex is a part of nature. I go along with nature.

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.

I have too many fantasies to be a housewife. I guess I am a fantasy.

I had the radio on.

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

If your man is a sports enthusiast, you may have to resign yourself to his spouting off in a monotone on a prize fight, football game or pennant race.

All my stepchildren carried the burden of my fame. Sometimes they would read terrible things about me, and I'd worry about whether it would hurt them. I would tell them: 'Don't hide these things from me. I'd rather you ask me these things straight out, and I'll answer all your questions.'

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

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

Of course, it does depend on the people, but sometimes I'm invited places to kind of brighten up a dinner table like a musician who'll play the piano after dinner, and I know you're not really invited for yourself. You're just an ornament.

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.

I remember when I was in high school I didn't have a new dress for each special occasion. The girls would bring the fact to my attention, not always too delicately. The boys, however, never bothered with the subject. They were my friends, not because of the size of my wardrobe but because they liked me.

Sometimes I think it would be easier to avoid old age, to die young, but then you'd never complete your life, would you? You'd never wholly know you.

There is just no comparison between having a dinner date with a man and staying home playing canasta with the girls.

The trouble with censors is that they worry if a girl has cleavage. They ought to worry if she hasn't any.

I think that sexuality is only attractive when it's natural and spontaneous.

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

Designers want me to dress like Spring, in billowing things. I don't feel like Spring. I feel like a warm red Autumn.

Naturally, there are times when every woman likes to be flattered... to feel she is the most important thing in someone's world. Only a man can paint this picture.

Men are so willing to respect anything that bores them.

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

Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.

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

I've often stood silent at a party for hours listening to my movie idols turn into dull and little people.

Consider the fellow. He never spends his time telling you about his previous night's date. You get the idea he has eyes only for you and wouldn't think of looking at another woman.

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

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

I want to be an artist, not... a celluloid aphrodisiac.

Sometimes I've been to a party where no one spoke to me for a whole evening. The men, frightened by their wives or sweeties, would give me a wide berth. And the ladies would gang up in a corner to discuss my dangerous character.