I was a mistake. My mother didn't want to have me.
I was never used to being happy, so that wasn't something I ever took for granted. You see, I was brought up differently from the average American child because the average child is brought up expecting to be happy.
I won't be satisfied until people want to hear me sing without looking at me.
If I had observed all the rules, I'd never have gotten anywhere.
I'm not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful.
I've been on a calendar, but never on time.
I've never liked the name Marilyn. I've often wished that I had held out that day for Jean Monroe. But I guess it's too late to do anything about it now.
Men who think that a woman's past love affairs lessen her love for them are usually stupid and weak. A woman can bring new love to each man she loves, providing there aren't too many.
My illusions didn't have anything to do with being a fine actress. I knew how third rate I was. I could actually feel my lack of talent, as if it were cheap clothes I was wearing inside. But, my God, how I wanted to learn, to change, to improve!
No one ever told me I was pretty when I was a little girl. All little girls should be told they are pretty, even if they aren't.
People ask me if I am going on making cheesecake pictures now that I'm a star. My answer is that as long as there is a boy in Korea who wants a pinup of me, I'll go on posing for them.
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.
Please don't make me a joke. End the interview with what I believe. I don't mind making jokes, but I don't want to look like one. I want to be an artist, an actress with integrity.
Sex is a part of nature. I go along with nature.
Some people have been unkind. If I say I want to grow as an actress, they look at my figure. If I say I want to develop, to learn my craft, they laugh. Somehow they don't expect me to be serious about my work.
Sometimes, I think it would be easier to avoid old age, to die young, but you'd never complete your life, would you?
Suicide is a person's privilege. I don't believe it's a sin or a crime. It's your right if you want to, though it doesn't get you anywhere.
The real lover is the man who can thrill you just by touching your head or smiling into your eyes or by just staring into space.
What good is it being Marilyn Monroe? Why can't I just be an ordinary woman? A woman who can have a family ... I'd settle for just one baby. My own baby.
When you're a failure in Hollywood, that's like starving to death outside a banquet hall, with smells of filet mignon driving you crazy.
You can't sleep your way into being a star. It takes much, much more. But it helps a lot of actresses get their first chance that way.
