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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Who wants to be married to a grandfather?

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

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

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

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

I never rode in an automobile until I was 12.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

How do you measure your value?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.