Imelda Marcos

I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes, I had one thousand and sixty.

— Imelda Marcos

Filipinos don't wallow in what is miserable and ugly. They recycle the bad into things of beauty.

— Imelda Marcos

I love everybody. One of the great things about me is that I have a very positive attitude.

— Imelda Marcos

Filipinos want beauty. I have to look beautiful so that the poor Filipinos will have a star to look at from their slums.

— Imelda Marcos

My dreams have become puny with the reality my life has become.

— Imelda Marcos

Life is not a matter of place, things or comfort; rather, it concerns the basic human rights of family, country, justice and human dignity.

— Imelda Marcos

They went into my closets looking for skeletons, but thank God, all they found were shoes, beautiful shoes.

— Imelda Marcos

I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes, I had one thousand and sixty.

— Imelda Marcos

I'm like Robin Hood. I rob the rich to make these projects come alive... not really rob. It's done with a smile.

— Imelda Marcos

The Philippines is in a strategic position. It is both East and West, right and left, rich and poor. We are neither here nor there.

— Imelda Marcos

The Philippines is where Asia wears a smile. Beautiful products can only be made by happy people.

— Imelda Marcos

If you know how rich you are, you are not rich. But me, I am not aware of the extent of my wealth. That's how rich we are.

— Imelda Marcos

Diligence, hard work, foresight, entrepreneurship and God's blessing.

— Imelda Marcos

When they see me holding fish, they can see that I am comfortable with kings as well as with paupers.

— Imelda Marcos

President Marcos was investing in precious metals long before he entered politics.

— Imelda Marcos

Funny, I never shopped. Even my jewelry — not a piece of my jewelry I bought for me.

— Imelda Marcos

I was born ostentatious. They will list my name in the dictionary someday. They will use 'Imeldific' to mean ostentatious extravagance.

— Imelda Marcos

Ferdinand had foresight and unbelievable luck. His success actually bordered on fiction.

— Imelda Marcos

I have never been a material girl. My father always told me never to love anything that cannot love you back.

— Imelda Marcos

I will not say sorry and be pardoned for doing a godly act.

— Imelda Marcos

My grandchildren are growing up and they could not understand why the Marcoses are still being crucified although we keep on telling them that we did not steal from the Filipino people.

— Imelda Marcos

I would have to ask the public to choose between a culture of hate or a culture of love. I am sure our poor will pick the latter. With the Marcos assets, we could regain this value of sharing love with one another.

— Imelda Marcos

They went into my closets looking for skeletons, but thank God, all they found were shoes, beautiful shoes.

— Imelda Marcos

Filipinos don't wallow in what is miserable and ugly. They recycle the bad into things of beauty.

— Imelda Marcos

It so coincided that Marcos had money. After the Bretton Woods agreement he started buying gold from Fort Knox. Three thousand tons, then 4,000 tons. I have documents for these: 7,000 tons. Marcos was so smart. He had it all. It's funny; America didn't understand him.

— Imelda Marcos

When you reach a certain level of leadership, people cannot be neutral with you. They either love, love, love you, or hate, hate, hate you.

— Imelda Marcos

We never had such a violation of human rights. In fact, we have had no human rights case here in the Philippines, even to this day.

— Imelda Marcos

It is not expensive to be beautiful. It takes only a little effort to be presentable and beautiful. But it takes some effort. And unfortunately people think of beauty as luxury, beauty as frivolity, ... or extravagance. Beauty is a discipline, beauty is art, is harmony, in the ideological sense and in the theological sense, beauty is God and love made real. And the ultimate reach in this world is beauty.

— Imelda Marcos

I seem to be able to only see the positive things in life and the beautiful things in life and when I see, for instance, garbage or ugliness, then I turn my back or I seem to be able to skip it.

— Imelda Marcos

I was born ostentatious. They will list my name in the dictionary someday. They will use Imeldific to mean ostentatious extravagance.

— Imelda Marcos

’Who is Imelda?’ I come from a third world country, third class province. And I was orphaned—and look, Imelda made it. If Imelda made it everyone can make it. At this age and stage I feel so good I’m still ready to fly.”

— Imelda Marcos

Thank God I never lost that childlike innocence and the purity of vision and naivete. …That childlike innocence was most useful, because if I was a bit wiser, I wouldn't have been able to do anything, perhaps. So I'm glad I was not smart.

— Imelda Marcos

I've always maintained that the only things to uphold are the good, the true and the beautiful. We have to reject what's ugly.

— Imelda Marcos

The best compliment I ever got in my life came from Chairman Mao of China. When I went there, at a time when nobody wanted to touch China with a 10-foot pole, Mao told me that I'm beautiful because I'm a natural, and he said natural is perfection. So, no character assassination can diminish me and my perfection.

— Imelda Marcos