Frida Kahlo, born in 1907 in Coyoacán, Mexico, was a pioneering Mexican artist known for her unique and deeply personal paintings. Despite facing numerous physical and emotional challenges throughout her life, including a debilitating bus accident at age 18, Kahlo’s art was a powerful reflection of her experiences and inner turmoil.

Kahlo’s paintings often depicted surreal and dreamlike scenes, infused with symbolism and vivid colors. She frequently incorporated elements of Mexican folk art and culture into her work, celebrating her heritage and identity.

Throughout her career, Kahlo’s art served as a form of self-expression and catharsis, exploring themes of pain, identity, and female empowerment. Her iconic self-portraits, in particular, offered a raw and unfiltered glimpse into her psyche, challenging traditional notions of beauty and femininity.

Despite facing limited recognition during her lifetime, Kahlo’s art has since gained widespread acclaim and admiration. She is celebrated as one of the most important artists of the 20th century, revered for her resilience, creativity, and groundbreaking contributions to the art world. Kahlo’s legacy continues to inspire artists and admirers around the world, reaffirming her status as a cultural icon and feminist icon.

Frida Kahlo Quotes

01. “At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.”
― Frida Kahlo

02. “I drank to drown my sorrows, but the damned things learned how to swim.”
― Frida Kahlo

03. “I don’t paint dreams or nightmares, I paint my own reality.”
― Frida Kahlo

04. “Feet, what do I need them for
If I have wings to fly.”
― Frida Kahlo

05. “I love you more than my own skin and even though you don’t love me the same way, you love me anyways, don’t you? And if you don’t, I’ll always have the hope that you do, and i’m satisfied with that. Love me a little. I adore you.”
― Frida Kahlo

06. “Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away.”
― Frida Kahlo

07. “I paint flowers so they will not die.”
― Frida Kahlo

08. “I hope the exit is joyful and i hope never to return.”
― Frida Kahlo

09. “I think that little by little I’ll be able to solve my problems and survive.”
― Frida Kahlo

10. “Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light. Tragedy is the most ridiculous thing.”
― Frida Kahlo

11. “I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best.”
― Frida Kahlo

12. “I want to be inside your darkest everything”
― Frida Kahlo

13. “I wish I could do whatever I liked behind the curtain of “madness”. Then: I’d arrange flowers, all day long, I’d paint; pain, love and tenderness, I would laugh as much as I feel like at the stupidity of others, and they would all say: “Poor thing, she’s crazy!” (Above all I would laugh at my own stupidity.) I would build my world which while I lived, would be in agreement with all the worlds. The day, or the hour, or the minute that I lived would be mine and everyone else’s – my madness would not be an escape from “reality”.”
― Frida Kahlo

14. “They are so damn ‘intellectual’ and rotten that I can’t stand them anymore….I [would] rather sit on the floor in the market of Toluca and sell tortillas, than have anything to do with those ‘artistic’ bitches of Paris.”
― Frida Kahlo

15. “I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim, and now I am overwhelmed by this decent and good feeling.”
― Frida Kahlo

16. “I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration.”
― Frida Kahlo

17. “The most important thing for everyone in Gringolandia is to have ambition and become ‘somebody,’ and frankly, I don’t have the least ambition to become anybody.”
― Frida Kahlo

18. “I don’t give a shit what the world thinks. I was born a bitch, I was born a painter, I was born fucked. But I was happy in my way. You did not understand what I am. I am love. I am pleasure, I am essence, I am an idiot, I am an alcoholic, I am tenacious. I am; simply I am … You are a shit.”
― Frida Kahlo

19. “You deserve the best, the very best, because you are one of the few people in this lousy world who are honest to themselves, and that is the only thing that really counts.”
― Frida Kahlo

20. “Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are a bourbon biscuit.”
― Frida Kahlo

21. “I am that clumsy human, always loving, loving, loving. And loving. And never leaving.”
― Frida Kahlo

22. “They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn’t. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.”
― Frida Kahlo

23. “i was born a bitch.
i was born a painter.”
― Frida Kahlo

24. “There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the train the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.”
― Frida Kahlo

25. “pain, pleasure and death are no more than a process for existence. The revolutionary struggle in this process is a doorway open to intelligence”
― Frida Kahlo

26. “There is nothing more precious than laughter”
― Frida Kahlo

27. “I love you more than my own skin.”
― Frida Kahlo

28.“No moon, sun, diamond, hands —
fingertip, dot, ray, gauze, sea.
pine green, pink glass, eye,
mine, eraser, mud, mother, I am coming.”
― Frida Kahlo

29. “My painting carries with it the message of pain.”
― Frida Kahlo

30. “Traté de ahogar mis penas… pero las condenadas aprendieron a nadar.”
― Frida Kahlo

31. “Only one mountain can know the core of another mountain.”
― Frida Kahlo

32. “I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best.”
― Frida Kahlo

33. “I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows. But now the damned things have learned to swim ,and now decency and good behavior weary me.”
― Frida Kahlo

34. “They sit for hours in the “cafes” warming their precious behinds, and talk without stopping about “culture” “art” “revolution” and so on and so forth, thinking themselves the gods of the world, dreaming the most fantastic nonsenses and poisoning the air with theories and theories that never come true.”
― Frida Kahlo

35. “¿se pueden inventar verbos? quiero decirte uno: yo te cielo, así mis alas se extienden enormes para amarte sin medida… somos de las misma materia, de las mismas ondas…”
― Frida Kahlo

36. “Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are magic.”
― Frida Kahlo

37. “High society here turns me off and I feel a bit of rage against all these rich guys here, since I have seen thousands of people in the most terrible misery without anything to eat and with no place to sleep, that is what has most impressed me here, it is terrifying to see the rich having parties day and night while thousands and thousands of people are dying of hunger… Although I am very interested in all the industrial and mechanical development of the United States, I find that Americans completely lack sensibility and good taste. They live as if in an enormous chicken coop that is dirty and uncomfortable. The houses look like bread ovens and all the comfort that they talk about is a myth.”
― Frida Kahlo

38. “What I wanted to express very clearly and intensely was that the reason these people had to invent or imagine heroes and gods is pure fear. Fear of life and fear of death.”
― Frida Kahlo

39. “I tried to drown my sorrows but the bastards learned how to swim.”
― Frida Kahlo

40. “I leave you my portrait so that you will have my presence all the days and nights that I am away from you.”
― Frida Kahlo

41. “Quisiera darte todo lo que nunca hubieras tenido, y ni así sabrías la maravilla que es poder quererte”
― Frida Kahlo

42. “to feel the anguish of waiting for the next moment and of taking part in the complex current (of affairs) not knowing that we are headed toward ourselves, through millions of stone beings – of bird beings – of star beings – of microbe beings – of fountain beings toward ourselves”
― Frida Kahlo

43. “Wordless,
Infinite —
You.
You intensify
everything.
You are
fire
burning
all that
is left
of my
heart.”
― Frida Kahlo

44. “Pies pa’ que los quiero, si tengo alas pa’ volar”
― Frida Kahlo

45. “Vivir de recuerdos es morir.”
― Frida Kahlo

46. “I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality.”
― Frida Kahlo

47. “Mai in vita mia
Dimenticherò la tua presenza.
Tu mi hai presa quando ero spezzata
E mi hai riparata
Su questa terra troppo piccola
Dove potrei mai voltare il mio sguardo?
Così immenso, così profondo!
Non c’è più tempo. Non c’è più nulla. Distanza. C’è soltanto la realtà.
Quello che è stato, è stato per sempre.”
― Frida Kahlo

48. “I have not forgotten you — the nights are long and difficult. You too know that all my eyes see, all touch with myself, from any distance, is you. The caress of fabrics, the color of colors, the wires, the nerves, the pencils, the leaves, the dust, the cells, the war and the sun, everything experienced in the minutes of the non-clocks and the non-calendars and the empty non-glances, is you. You felt it, that’s why you let that ship take me away from Le Havre where you never said good-bye to me. I will write to you with my eyes, always. For you is all.”
― Frida Kahlo

49. “People in general are scared to death of the war and all the exhibition have been a failure, because the rich – don’t want to buy anything”
― Frida Kahlo

50. “‎”I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.” –”
― Frida Kahlo

51. “It was worthwhile to come here only to see why Europe is rottening, why all this people – good for nothing – are the cause of all the Hitlers and Mussolinis.”
― Frida Kahlo

52. “La belleza y la fealdad son un espejismo, porque los demás terminan viendo nuestro interior.”
― Frida Kahlo

53. “Que todo termina en un instante
Planatera doloroso”
― Frida Kahlo

54. “Yo le duro lo que usted me cuide, yo le hablo como usted me trate y le creo lo que usted me demuestre.”
― Frida Kahlo

55. “I am nauseated by all these rotten people in Europe – and these fucking “democracies” are not worth even a crumb.”
― Frida Kahlo

56. “Espero que la salida sea alegre y espero no volver nunca más.”
― Frida Kahlo

57. “You too know that all my eyes see, all I touch with myself, from any distance, is Diego. The caress of fabrics, the color of colors, the wires, the nerves, the pencils, the leaves, the dust, the cells, the war and the sun, everything experienced in the minutes of the non-clocks and the non-calendars and the empty non-glances, is him.”
― Frida Kahlo

58. “This upper class is disgusting and I’m furious at all these rich people here, having seen thousands of people in abject squalor.”
― Frida Kahlo

59. “You deserve a lover who takes away the lies and brings you hope, coffee, and poetry.”
― Frida Kahlo

60. “Te vas? No. Alas rotas.”
― Frida Kahlo

61. “Si actuas como si supieras lo que estas haciendo, puedes hacer lo que quieras.”
― Frida Kahlo

62. “My Diego: Mirror of the night Your eyes green swords inside my flesh. waves between our hands. All of you in a space full of sounds — in the shade and in the light. You were called AUXOCHROME the one who captures color. I CHROMOPHORE — the one who gives color. You are all the combinations of numbers. life. My wish is to understand lines form shades movement. You fulfill and I receive. Your word travels the entirety of space and reaches my cells which are my stars then goes to yours which are my light.”
― Frida Kahlo

63. “Perhaps it is expected that I should lament about how I have suffered living with a man like Diego. But I do not think that the banks of a river suffer because they let the river flow, nor does the earth suffer because of the rains, nor does the atom suffer for letting its energy escape. To my way of thinking, everything has its natural compensation.”
― Frida Kahlo

64. “A vida é cruel por ter inventado a memória. Como os velhos que recobram em matizes suas lembranças mais antigas, à beira da morte minha memória gravita em torno do sol, e como ele clareia tudo! Tudo é presente, nada está perdido. É como uma força oculta que nos impele para nos estimular de novo: diante da evidência de que não mais haverá futuro, o passado se amplifica, suas raízes engrossam, tudo em mim é rizosfera, as cores se cristalizam sobre cada estrato, a mais insignificante imagem toca o seu absoluto, o coração bate em crescendo.”
― Frida Kahlo

65. “I could kill that guy and eat it afterwards…”
― Frida Kahlo

66. “Cada (tic-tac) es un segundo de la vida que pasa, huye, y no se repite. Y hay en ella tanta intensidad, tanto interés, que el problema es sólo saberla vivir. Que cada quien lo resuelva como pueda.”
― Frida Kahlo

67. “My paintings are well-painted, not nimbly but patiently. My painting contains in it the message of pain. I think that at least a few people are interested in it. It’s not revolutionary. Why keep wishing for it to be belligerent? I can’t. Painting completed my life. I lost three children and a series of other things that would have fulfilled my horrible life. My painting took the place of all of this. I think work is the best.”
― Frida Kahlo

68. “i am my own muse, i am the subject i know best. the subject i want to know better.”
― Frida Kahlo

69. “The industrial part of Detroit is really the most interesting side, otherwise it’s like the rest of the United States, ugly and stupid.”
― Frida Kahlo

70. “Can verbs be made up? I’ll tell you one. I heaven you, so my wings will open wide to love you boundlessly.”
― Frida Kahlo

71. “I’ll try out the pencils
sharpened to the point of infinity
which always sees ahead:

Green — good warm light

Magenta — Aztec. old TLAPALI
blood of prickly pear, the
brightest and oldest

[Brown —] color of mole, of leaves becoming
earth

[Yellow —] madness sickness fear
part of the sun and of happiness

[Blue —] electricity and purity love

[Black —] nothing is black — really nothing

[Olive —] leaves, sadness, science, the whole
of Germany is this color

[Yellow —] more madness and mystery
all the ghosts wear
clothes of this color, or at
least their underclothes

[Dark blue —] color of bad advertisements
and of good business

[Blue —]distance. Tenderness
can also be this blue
blood?”
― Frida Kahlo

72. “Heute Ist immer noch (Today is like always).”
― Frida Kahlo

73. “At the end of the day we can endure much more than we think we can.”
― Frida Kahlo

74. “Auxochrome — Chromophore. Diego. She who wears the color. He who sees the color. Since the year 1922. Until always and forever. Now in 1944. After all the hours lived through. The vectors continue in their original direction. Nothing stops them. With no more knowledge than live emotion. With no other wish than to go on until they meet. Slowly. With great unease, but with the certainty that all is guided by the “golden section.” There is cellular arrangement. There is movement. There is light. All centers are the same. Folly doesn’t exist. We are the same as we were and as we will be. Not counting on idiotic destiny.”
― Frida Kahlo

75. “Amurallar el propio sufrimiento es arriesgarse a que te devore desde el interior.”
― Frida Kahlo

76. “I must fight with all my strength so that the little positive things that my health allows me to do might be pointed toward helping the revolution. The only real reason for living.”
― Frida Kahlo

77. “i paint flowers so they will not die”
― Frida Kahlo

78. “feet, what do i need you for if i have wings to fly?”
― Frida Kahlo

79. “This is how it feels to be in this broken female body. This is how it feels to be alone… This is how it feels to be me. I dare you to look…and once you look, I’m going to make sure you cannot look away.”
― Frida Kahlo

80. “Her view of life, she told a friend, was: “Make love. Take a bath. Make love again.”
― Frida Kahlo

81. “everything exists, and moves, under only one law = life =”
― Frida Kahlo

82. “Acho que é melhor nos separarmos e eu ir tocar minha música em outro lugar com todos os meus preconceitos burgueses de fidelidade.”
― Frida Kahlo

83. “Yo solía pensar que era la persona más extraña en el mundo, pero luego pensé, hay mucha gente así en el mundo, tiene que haber alguien como yo, que se sienta bizarra y dañada de la misma forma en que yo me siento. Me la imagino, e imagino que ella también debe estar por ahí pensando en mí. Bueno, yo espero que si tú estás por ahí y lees esto sepas que, sí, es verdad, yo estoy aquí, soy tan extraña como tú”
― Frida Kahlo

84. “I want to be inside your darkest everything.”
― Frida Kahlo

85. “Donde no puedas amar, no te demores”
― Frida Kahlo

86. “I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint.”
― Frida Kahlo

87. “Why do I need feet when I have wings to fly?”
― Frida Kahlo

88. “Ich habe immer gedacht, dass ich die seltsamste Person auf dieser Welt bin, aber später dachte ich, dass es viele solcher Leute auf der Welt gibt, es muss also jemanden wie mich geben, der sich auf gleiche Weise bizarr und beschädigt fühlt, so wie ich mich fühle. Ich stelle mir die Frau vor, und stelle mir vor, dass sie dort drüben auch an mich denkt. Also gut, ich hoffe, wenn du dort bist und dies liest, dass du weißt, dass es wahr ist, dass ich da bin und genauso seltsam bin wie du.”
― Frida Kahlo

89. “A veces tienes que olvidar lo que sientes, y recordar lo que mereces.”
― Frida Kahlo

90. “Nada es más valioso que la risa. Se requiere de fuerza para reír y abandonarse a uno, para ser ligera. La tragedia es lo más ridículo.”
― Frida Kahlo

91. “At the end of the day, we can endure a lot more than we think we can.”
― Frida Kahlo

92. “Yo sufrí dos accidentes graves en mi vida: uno es del tranvía, el otro es Diego. Diego fue el peor de todos”
― Frida Kahlo

93. “Feet, What do I need you for when I have wings to fly?”
― Frida Kahlo

94.“Sono nata nella pioggia.
Sono cresciuta sotto la pioggia.
Una pioggia continua nell’anima e nel corpo.”
― Frida Kahlo

95. “My paintings are well-painted, not nimbly but patiently. My painting contains in it the message of pain. I think that at least a few people are interested in it. It’s not revolutionary. Why keep wishing for it to be belligerent? I can’t.
Painting completed my life. I lost three children and a series of other things that would have fulfilled my horrible life. My painting took the place of all this. I think work is the best.”
― Frida Kahlo

96. “Zaljubi se u sebe. Zaljubi se u život. I poslije se zaljubi u koga god hoćeš.”
― Frida Kahlo

97. “El arte más poderoso de la vida, es hacer del dolor un talismán que cura, una mariposa renace florecida en fiesta de colores.”
― Frida Kahlo

98. “Feet what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?”
― Frida Kahlo

99. “Me hace tanto bien saber que tu realmente me quieres y que no importa dónde andes tu me CIELAS (de cielo).”
― Frida Kahlo

100. “Я пыталась утолить свои печали, но эти ублюдки научились плавать.”
― Frida Kahlo

101. “…no te mortifiques por tu reacción a su falta de respeto, una relación relación no termina por falta de amor, termina por falta de respeto, comunicación, espacio, lealtad y sobre todo por exceso de orgullo”
― Frida Kahlo

102. “…también me mentía a mi misma, al decir que mi rechazo eran miedo a volver a sentir eso por alguien más; eran las tontas esperanzas de verte volver, tu que siempre tuviste las palabras para sanarme o romperme…”
― Frida Kahlo

103. “..ha pasado tanto tiempo, pero se que hay un ultimo día para todo…ese día podría ser hoy. Ni de amores se muere, ni de recuerdos se vive”
― Frida Kahlo

104. “Sabes, mi cielo, que llueves en mí y yo, como la tierra, te recibo.”
― Frida Kahlo

105. “Las crepas ya intenté hacerlas, pero me salen unas vomitadas de borracho. Pues, al voltearlas, se me hacen pelota y me quedan crudas. Es inútil que quiera dedicarme a cocinera, pues lo hago demasiado mal y lo echo a perder todo. Así es que mejor me esperaré para cuando llegue a México tu me enseñes”
― Frida Kahlo

106. “A veces quisiera estar dentro de tu cabeza, para para saber que es lo que piensas, sientes”
― Frida Kahlo

107. “¿Se pueden inventar verbos?
Quiero decirte uno: Yo te cielo, así mis alas se extienden enormes para amarte sin medida”
― Frida Kahlo