Frida Kahlo Quotes
Frida Kahlo left behind some of the most quoted lines of any artist, from feet, what do I need them for if I have wings to fly to I paint myself because I am the subject I know best. Most of them came straight out of her pain.
She wrote them in diaries and letters, not for posters, which is why they still cut so deep.
Here are her real quotes, the story behind them, and one famous line she probably never said.
Her most famous lines
Feet, what do I need them for if I have wings to fly.
I paint myself because I am so often alone, and because I am the subject I know best.
I hope the exit is joyful, and I hope never to return.
I paint flowers so they will not die.
There have been two great accidents in my life: the streetcar, and Diego.
Feet, what do I need them for
This is the bravest line she ever wrote, and the context makes it unbearable.
She wrote it in her diary near the end, when illness had cost her a leg below the knee. Facing the loss of her foot, she answered it with wings. It is despair turned into defiance in a single sentence. The body that pushed her to it is here: what happened to Frida Kahlo.
I paint myself because I am so often alone
Frida made around 55 self portraits, and this line explains why.
Bedridden for long stretches after her accident, the one model always available was herself, reflected in a mirror above her bed. The loneliness was not a pose. It was her studio.
The two great accidents
Asked about the worst things that ever happened to her, Frida named two.
One was the streetcar that shattered her body. The other, she said, was Diego, and she added that Diego was by far the worse of the two. It is the whole story of her life in one bitter joke.
The quote she probably never said
One line floats around on mugs everywhere: I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim.
It is funny, it sounds like her, and there is no solid source for it in her writing. It is most likely misattributed, pinned on Frida because she is the kind of woman it should belong to. Her genuine words are darker and stranger than the merch version.
FAQ about Frida Kahlo quotes
What is Frida Kahlo's most famous quote? Feet, what do I need them for if I have wings to fly.
What were her last written words? I hope the exit is joyful, and I hope never to return.
Why did she paint herself? Because she was often alone and was the subject she knew best.
What were her two great accidents? The streetcar, and Diego.
Did she say she drowned her sorrows? Probably not. That line has no real source.
Words written from a bed
Frida's best lines were not crafted for fame. They were scratched into a diary by a woman in pain, trying to make sense of a body and a marriage that kept breaking her.
That is why they last. The whole life behind them is in Frida Kahlo: The Complete Story, with more surprising facts about her.
For the life behind the legend, read The tragic life of Frida Kahlo