Frida Kahlo was a pretty famous Mexican painter celebrated for her vivid but often unsettling self-portraits exploring identity, the human body and death.
Born to a diverse heritage, she explored her European and indigenous roots through her art.
Despite health issues, including polio and a severe bus accident necessitating over 30 surgeries, she developed a unique painting style during her recovery, receiving support from fellow artist and husband Diego Rivera.
Kahlo’s art, reflecting her life’s joys and pains, gained significant recognition, culminating in her first solo exhibitions and posthumous fame, with her home eventually becoming the Frida Kahlo Museum.
I have handpicked some of the best quotes by Frida Kahlo below.
Best Frida Kahlo Quotes about Love, Strength, Feminism, and Inspiration
1. “I think that little by little I’ll be able to solve my problems and survive.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
2. “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).
3. “Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
4. “I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
5. “I am my own muse, I am the subject I know best. The subject I want to know better.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
6. “Painting completed my life.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
7. “You deserve a lover who takes away the lies and brings you hope, coffee, and poetry.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
8. “I want to be inside your darkest everything.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
9. “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).
10. “I paint flowers so they will not die.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
11. “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).
12. “People in general are scared to death of the war and all the exhibitions have been a failure, because the rich don’t want to buy anything.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
13. “At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
14. “I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
15. “Love me a little. I adore you.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
11. “I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
12. “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.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
13. “I paint flowers to prevent them from dying.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
14. “Her view of life, she told a friend, was: ‘Make love. Take a bath. Make love again.’” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
Top Frida Kahlo Quotes
15. “What would I do without the absurd and the ephemeral?” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
16. I am overwhelmed by this decent and good feeling.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
17. “I am in agreement with everything my father taught me and nothing my mother taught me.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
18. “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).
19. “To paint is the most terrific thing that there is, but to do it well is very difficult.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
20. “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).
21. “I put on the canvas whatever comes into my mind.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
22. “You are all the combinations of numbers of life.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
23. “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).
24. “I tried to drown my sorrows but the bastards learned how to swim.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
25. “I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me, too.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
26. “Why do I need feet when I have wings to fly?”― (Frida Kahlo).
27. “There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the trolley, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
28. “I love you more than my own skin.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
29. “Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
30. “I had something in my throat. It felt like I had swallowed the whole world.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
31. “I hope the exit is joyful. And I hope never to return.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
32. “They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn’t.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
33. “Only one mountain can know the core of another mountain.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
34. “And to hold onto some dogged idea forever is a little rigid and maybe naive.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
35. Loyalty is important to me. Can you be loyal?” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
37. “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).
Famous Frida Kahlo Quotes
38. “I drank to drown my sorrows, but the damned things learned how to swim.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
39. “I wish I could do whatever I liked behind the curtain of “madness.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
40. “No moon, sun, diamond, hands – fingertip, dot, ray, gauze, sea. pine green, pink glass, eye, mine, eraser, mud, mother, I am coming.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
41. “I just want your serious opinion.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
42. “I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
43. “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).
44. “They say never trust a limping dog or the tears of a woman.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
45. I’d like to paint you, but there are no colors, because there are so many, in my confusion, the tangible form of my great love. ~ (Frida Kahlo).
46. “I have suffered two grave accidents in my life, one in which a streetcar knocked me down… The other accident is Diego.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
47. “Surrealism is the magical surprise of finding a lion in a wardrobe, where you were ‘sure’ of finding shirts.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
48. “My painting carries with it the message of pain.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
Inspiring Frida Kahlo Quotes
49. “Don’t build a wall around your own suffering, it may devour you from the inside.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
50. “Tragedy is the most ridiculous thing.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
51. “I am that clumsy human, always loving, loving, loving. And loving. And never leaving.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
52. “At the end of the day we can endure much more than we think we can.”― (Frida Kahlo).
53. “Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
54. “Don’t build a wall around your suffering. It may devour you from the inside.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
55. “I have never expected anything from my work but the satisfaction I could get from it by the very fact of painting and saying what I couldn’t say otherwise.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
56. “Really, I do not know whether my paintings are surrealist or not, but I do know that they are the frankest expression of myself.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
57. “It is terrifying to see the rich having parties day and night while thousands and thousands of people are dying of hunger.”- (Frida Kahlo).
58. “I was a child who went about in a world of colors… My friends, my companions, became women slowly; I became old in instants.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
Frida Kahlo Quotes for Motivation
59. “Diego was everything; my child, my lover, my universe.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
60. “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).
61. “Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
62. “My paintings are well-painted, not nimbly but patiently.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
63. “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).
64. “What do you think matters most for a good marriage?” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
65. “Passion is the bridge that takes you from pain to change.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
66. “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).
66. “There is nothing left everything revolves.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
67. “Through the round numbers and the colored nerves the stars are made and the worlds are sounds.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
68. “Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are a bourbon biscuit.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
69. “My toys were those of a boy: skates, bicycles.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
70. “My blood is a miracle that, from my veins, crosses the air in my heart into yours.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
71. “Everyone’s opinions about things change over time. Nothing is constant. Everything changes.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
Short Frida Kahlo Quotes
72. “To trap one’s self-suffering is to risk being devoured from the inside.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
73. “I’ll wait for you. You responded to a sense with your voice and I’m full of you, waiting for your words which will make me grow and will enrich me.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
74. “Years. Waiting with anguish hidden away, my spine broken, and the immense glance, footless through the vast path… Carrying on my life enclosed in steel.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
75. “A despair which no words can describe. I’m still eager to live. I’ve started to paint again. A little picture to give to Dr. Farill on which I’m working with all my love. I feel uneasy about my painting.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
76. “The most interesting thing about the so-called lies of Diego is that, sooner or later, the ones involved in the imaginary tale get angry, not because of the lies, but because of the truth contained in the lies, which always comes forth.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
77. “I want a storm to come and flood us into a song that no one wrote.” ~ (Frida Kahlo).
Short Biography of Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo, born in Mexico City in 1907, faced health challenges from a young age, including polio and a severe bus accident that led to a lifetime of pain and medical issues.
Despite this, she developed a vibrant art career, deeply influenced by her personal experiences, Mexican culture, and political beliefs.
| Full Name | Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón |
| Born | July 6, 1907, Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico |
| Died | July 13, 1954, Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico |
| Spouse | Diego Rivera (m. 1940–1954), Diego Rivera (m. 1929–1939) |
| Education | Self-taught |
| Known for | Painting |
| Periods | Surrealism, Modern art, Cubism, Symbolism, Magical Realism |
| Parents | Guillermo Kahlo, Matilde Calderón y González |
She married the muralist Diego Rivera, with whom she had a tumultuous relationship, including a divorce and remarriage.
Kahlo’s art, which includes elements of surrealism and realism, is a frank expression of her life’s trials and emotions.
Her work gained widespread recognition posthumously, and her home, the “Blue House,” has been turned into a museum celebrating her legacy.
Interesting Facts about Frida Kahlo
- Frida Kahlo claimed her birthday was July 7, 1910, to align with the Mexican Revolution, despite being born on July 6, 1907.
- She had polio at age 6, affecting her right leg, which she disguised with long, colorful skirts.
- A bus accident at 18 led Kahlo to start painting during her recovery.
- Kahlo and her husband, Diego Rivera, appeared on the 500 Mexican peso note from 2010 to 2018.
- She created 143 paintings, with 55 being self-portraits.
- Kahlo was briefly jailed in 1940 on suspicion of murdering Leon Trotsky.
- She married Rivera twice, first in 1929 and again in 1940.
- Unable to have children due to her injuries, Kahlo depicted her pain in her art.
- Kahlo surrounded herself with exotic pets, including monkeys and a fawn.
- Posthumously, she appeared on the cover of Vogue in 2012.
- Controversy surrounds her death, with speculation of an overdose.
- Her father had German roots, while her mother was of indigenous Mexican and Spanish descent.
- Kahlo’s painting “Roots” set an auction record for a Latin American piece of art at US$5.6 million.
- The 500 peso note featuring Kahlo and Rivera commemorated the Mexican Revolution centennial.
- She turned to painting after a near-fatal bus crash in 1925.
- Kahlo is recognized as a master of self-portraits.
- The Louvre purchased her painting “The Frame” in 1939.
- Kahlo was known for her bisexual affairs, including one with Rivera’s sister.
- She had an affair with Leon Trotsky during his political asylum in Mexico.
- Kahlo was friends with American artist Georgia O’Keeffe.
- Her fame surged decades after her death, with her work and life becoming the subject of films and exhibits.
Top Questions about Frida Kahlo
A: Her full birth name was Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderon.
A: She was born on July 6, 1907, in La Casa Azul, Coyoacan, which was then a small town on the outskirts of Mexico City.
A: Her father, originally named Carl Wilhelm Kahlo, was born in Germany and changed his name to Guillermo upon moving to Mexico in 1891.
A: Although Kahlo claimed her father had Jewish and Hungarian ancestry, he was actually from a line of German Lutherans. This mix, combined with her mother’s indigenous and Spanish descent, significantly influenced Kahlo’s cultural and personal identity.
A: Frida Kahlo is celebrated for her unique self-portraits that vividly express her own pain and passion, her use of bold and vibrant colors, her deep connection to Mexican and indigenous cultures, and her portrayal of the female experience and form, making her an icon in both her home country of Mexico and among feminists worldwide.
A: In her final days, despite being mostly bedridden due to bronchopneumonia, Frida Kahlo actively participated in a demonstration against the CIA invasion of Guatemala. Her condition deteriorated rapidly after this, leading to extreme pain and a high fever, and she passed away in 1954 at the age of 47.
A: Frida Kahlo did not have any children. Though she deeply wished to have a child with Diego Rivera, her severe injuries from a bus accident made her pregnancies life-threatening, resulting in medically advised terminations.
A: At the age of 18, Frida Kahlo was involved in a devastating bus accident that inflicted lifelong pain and injuries on her. During her recovery, she began painting from her bed, considering a future that might blend her interests in science and art, possibly as a medical illustrator.
A: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera had a tumultuous relationship characterized by intense emotions and vibrant personalities. They first married in 1929, divorced in 1940 due to various strains, including infidelities, but remarried later that same year. Their relationship remained a central aspect of both their lives and their art.
A: Kahlo contracted polio at age six, leading to a lifelong difference in leg thickness, and she possibly suffered from spina bifida, affecting her spinal and leg development.
A: The revolution started when she was three, and Kahlo later associated her birth year with the revolution for symbolic reasons. She recalled moments of violence and turmoil during her childhood.
A: A severe bus accident left her in immense pain and temporarily immobilized, prompting her to start painting during her recovery.
A: Her artworks, particularly her self-portraits, often depicted her physical and psychological pain, incorporating symbolic elements from her life and experiences.
A: Indigenous culture significantly influenced her art, seen in her use of bright colors, dramatic symbolism, and themes like the symbolic monkeys.
A: Rivera, a famous Mexican painter, encouraged Kahlo’s art, and their tumultuous relationship, marked by passion and infidelities, deeply impacted her personal life and artistic expression.
A: Her painting “The Frame” being bought by the Louvre marked her as the first 20th-century Mexican artist to be featured in the renowned museum.
A: Both were active communist sympathizers, and their political beliefs led them to befriend and support Leon Trotsky during his exile in Mexico.
A: Kahlo died on July 13, 1954, officially from pulmonary embolism, but there were suspicions of an overdose. She had been struggling with serious health issues, including the amputation of her right leg.
A: Rivera expressed profound sorrow in his autobiography, calling the day of Kahlo’s death the most tragic of his life and acknowledging the immense significance of his love for her.
A: La Casa Azul, Frida Kahlo’s childhood home, now serves as a museum dedicated to her life and art, displaying many of her works and personal belongings.
