IMELDA MARCOS

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.

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

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.

Doesn't the fight for survival also justify swindle and theft? In self defence, anything goes.

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

They call me corrupt, frivolous. I am not at all privileged. Maybe the only privileged thing is my face. And corrupt? God! I would not look like this if I am corrupt. Some ugliness would settle down on my system.

My husband does not like me to give interviews because I say too much. No talk, no trouble.

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

The Reagans were dear friends for many years, even when he was governor of California. Nancy appreciated a lot of Philippine-made things.

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 was no Marie Antoinette. I was not born to nobility, but I had a human right to nobility.

You know, not even your British Queen is called just Elizabeth - she's Elizabeth the Second. There's only one Imelda.

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

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

If you know how much you've got, you probably haven't got much.

The problems with First Ladies is that you have to set the standard. My role is to be both star and slave.

God is love. I have loved. Therefore, I will go to heaven.

It's the rich you can terrorize. The poor have nothing to lose.

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

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.

I hate ugliness. You know I'm allergic to ugliness.

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

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.

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

Continuous persecution of widows and orphans is a crime. Even the Bible says there is a specific place in hell for those who oppress widows.