Paul Simon Quotes

“The course of a lifetime runs/over and over again”

“I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died. If I never loved I never would have cried...I am a rock.”

“Somewhere in a burst of glory / Sound becomes a song.”

“The death penalty is reserved for people who do not”

“...what threatens us today in the world of computers and other invasions of privacy is not a national ID card but a number of other things.”

“And a rock feels no pain; And an island never cries.”

“I like working with sound; sound and rhythm. I like the abstract more than "What does that mean?" Nobody ever says to you, "Why did you use a harmonium?" Or "What is that ringing sound that occurs here?" The questions are always "What does that song mean?" or "What were you trying to say here?"”

“Every generation throws a hero up the pop charts.”

“You have underestimated my power, as you will shortly discover.”

“I don't believe what the papers are saying They're just out to capture my dime, Exaggerating this, exaggerating that.”

“Most of the time, the songs have jokes in them, little sarcastic things, or purposely kitsch or something. So that's going along with a story, like I do in life, just talking to myself and making fun of stuff and laughing at stuff that's serious. And sometimes it's a good idea to put the laughing into the songs. Sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's all right just to be serious. But most of the songs have some kind of joke in them.”

“All I've got to do today is smile.”

“The problem is all inside your head, she said to meThe answer is easy if you take it logicallyI'd like to help you in your struggle to be freeThere must be fifty ways to leave your lover.”

“It's outrageous to line your pockets off the misery of the poor; It's outrageous, the crimes some human beings must endure.”

“When we came into the studio I became more and more me, making the tracks and choosing the musicians, partly because a great deal of the time during Bridge, Artie wasn't there.”

“I don't feel any pressure from fans. But I'm always in some kind of state of emotional turmoil. I would not describe myself as happy-go-lucky. That's not to say that I'm not happy.”

“Facts can be turned into art if one is artful enough.”

“Anthony Heilbut has been a guide and a mentor to me. I know of no one who has the love and depth of knowledge of this extraordinary author.”

“I don't really like to write at a desk. I like to write when driving in a car. ... Once you're working on it, you're working on it all the time, and sometimes stuff'll come in the middle of the night, in a dream or something. Your mind is working on it all the time.”

“Having a track record to live up to and the history of successes had become a hindrance. It becomes harder to break out of what people expect you to do.”

“It's pointless to be critical of your stuff once it's done. I don't spend a lot of time agonising over it. It's of no importance once it's finished.”

“I don't know what I'm going to write when I begin to write. It feels like you are walking down a path, but you can't see around the bend and you don't know where you are going to go, which is fun.”

“One man's ceiling is another man's floor.”

“Mama, don't take my Kodachrome away.”

“Artie travels all the time. The rehearsals were just miserable. Artie and I fought all the time. He didn't want to do the show with my band; he just wanted me on acoustic guitar.”