"If I play a stupid girl, and ask a stupid question, I've got to follow it through. What am I supposed to do, look intelligent?"

"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."

"The truth is 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. When they found this out, they would blame me for disillusioning them and fooling them."

"I am trying to prove to myself that I am a person. Then maybe I'll convince myself that I am an actress."

Journalist: "If 50 percent of the experts in Hollywood said you had no talent and should give up, what would you do?"
Marilyn: "Look, if 100 percent told me that, all 100 percent would be wrong."