Imelda Marcos

“People say I'm extravagant because I want to be surrounded by beauty. But tell me, who wants to be surrounded by garbage?”

“I always say you can never be extravagant with beauty. Beauty is God made real. Beauty is life.”

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

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

“It is shallow people who think beauty is frivolous or excessive. If you are bringing beauty and god, you are enriching the country. Rice feeds the body, books feed the mind, beauty feeds the soul. It is one thing I can really be proud of and stand tall in the world.”

“The only rich person is a person who is rich in spirit. I have no money deposit. I have only beauty deposit.”

“The Philippines is a terrible name, coming from Spain. Phillip II was the father of the inquisition, who I believe died of syphilis. It is my great regret that we didn't change the name of our country.”

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

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

“My dreams were always small and puny. All I ever needed was a little house with a little picket fence by the sea. Little did I know that I would live in Malacanang Palace for 20 years and visit all the major palaces of mankind. And then also meet ordinary citizens and the leaders of superpowers.”

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

“I will come up with a project that will wipe out poverty in the Philippines in two years. I want to remove the people from economic crisis by using the Marcos wealth. Long after I'm gone, people will remember me for building them homes and roads and hospitals and giving them food.”

“The problem of the world today is the people talk on and on about democracy, freedom, justice. But I don't give a d--n about democracy if I am worried about survival.”

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

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

“I beg Osama to stop warring. He is a Muslim, and Islam means peace. Nobody wins in a war... I wish I were tapped in the problem about Iraq. I knew Saddam enough that I could have talked him into surrendering. But it's too late.”

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

“Ferdinand was a gold trader. He was a lawyer for mining companies. When he entered politics in l949, he had tons and tons of gold. When Bill Gates was a college dropout, Ferdinand already possessed billions of dollars and tons of gold. It wasn't stolen.”

“Never dress down for the poor. They won't respect you for it. They want their First Lady to look like a million dollars.”

“I really had no great love for shoes. I was a working First Lady I was always in canvas shoes. I did nurture the shoes industry of the Philippines, and so every time there was a shoe fair, I would receive a pair of shoes as a token of gratitude.”