Life in quotes: Dolly Parton was the Queen of Country and one-liners

Along with being one of the most decorated performers of all time, Parton had an uncanny ability to impart wisdom wrapped in her signature southern wit.

With the news of her death at 80 , here are Parton's thoughts on life, love and loss — in her own words.

"I'd put a tin can on a stick as my microphone and pretend the front porch was my stage. Then I'd sing to whatever was in the front yard — human, animal or dirt."

"Now I was just a kid and I was nervous then too and I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to deliver what the audience wanted from me but I did sing and they did applaud. They did want more. Only trouble was they wanted an encore and I had only one song. So I just started up and sang the same song again."

"The way I look is a country girl's idea of glamour. It came from a very serious place. There was what you call a town trollop in our town, up in Sevierville. Well, I thought she was the prettiest thing I'd ever seen when I was a little girl and every chance I had to go to town, I'd see her and I would say, 'Oh she's just so pretty.' and they'd say, 'Oh she's just trash.' I thought that's what I'm going be when I grow up."

"I haven't turned my back on Nashville. I will be able to do more for the name of country music by going ahead and doing what I feel I should do, by reaching a broader audience and as many people as I can, and by having a universal appeal. I'll be able to do more for Nashville than I ever could have done had I stayed there."

"I never thought of myself as a movie star. I knew I'd be a star, but as a singer or as a writer of songs or books or poetry. I wanted to be a famous performer and wear flashy clothes, but singing in movies was not one of my ambitions. My family lived in the mountains and we didn't see movies. I can't act a part, but if they allow me to be myself, then I can handle it. If they find me a story that allows me to be me, then I'm interested; if they don't, I'm not."

"I'll admit I had some misgivings about the title of the movie. After all, my granddaddy was a preacher, and I'm a spiritual person myself. I didn't want to do anything that might be considered offensive. Then I saw the play and I realised it was just a foot-stompin' good time."

"It's something I want to take pride in, to preserve the Smoky Mountain heritage rather than have Hollywood portray us as they often do."

"It was love at first sight. I see people who turn my head all the time. It's just that nobody's turned my head around as much as him."

"I'll be like Bob Hope, touring when I'm 100. I love being busy … I will never retire. I hope to fall dead in the middle of some great event or some great song I'm singing. Then they'll say, 'Oh well, she went happy and doing what she loves.'"

"I'm her fairy godmother. … I'm just real proud of her. She does not need my advice, but she's often asking for information and advice, and I tell her what I know, but I think the girl's doing all right without me."

"People always tell me, 'I thought that was Whitney's song. I didn't know you wrote it. I thought she wrote it.' And I tell them, 'She can have the credit. I'll just take the cash.'"

"I don't do it for attention.