Wisdom of Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe (June 1st, 1926 – August 4th, 1962) was an American actress, model, and singer. She was one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s and remains an icon decades after her death. She was a top-billed actress and in 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her as the sixth-greatest female screen legend from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

The academic Sarah Churchwell studied narratives about Monroe and wrote: “The biggest myth is that she was dumb. The second is that she was fragile. The third is that she couldn't act. She was far from dumb, although she was not formally educated, and she was very sensitive about that. But she was very smart indeed—and very tough. She had to be both to beat the Hollywood studio system in the 1950s. The dumb blonde was a role—she was an actress, for heaven's sake! Such a good actress that no one now believes she was anything but what she portrayed on screen.”

Marilyn’s troubled private life received a lot of attention. She allegedly struggled with addiction and mood disorders. She died at age 36 from an overdose of barbiturates. Her death was ruled a probable suicide, but some evidence indicates homicide.

Below we list some words of wisdom from Marilyn Monroe.

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

"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."

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

"The more I think of it, the more I realize there are no answers. Life is to be lived."

"Just because you fail once, doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don't, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about."

"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."

"The worst thing that happens to people when they dress up and go to a party is that they leave their real selves at home."

"I restore myself when I'm alone."

"It takes a smart brunette to play a dumb blonde."

"This life is what you make it. Not matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes, it's a universal truth."

"Sometimes good things fall apart so better things could fall together."

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

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

"It's better being completely ridiculous than unbelievably boring."

"Don't stop when you're tired; stop when you're done."

"Always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don't, then who will, sweetie?"

"The sky is not the limit. Your mind is."

"Within crisis, are the seeds of opportunity."

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."

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

Copyright © Stephen Petullo, Scott Petullo