Paul Simon Quotes

A songwriter's supreme challenge is being complex and simple at the same time

Life I love you, all is groovy.

I rate each album as better than the last one. That's how I see it.

The public hungers to see talented young people kill themselves.

If you'll be my body guard, I can be your long lost pal.

To get the stuff out of you, especially if what you're dealing with is yourself, requires you to open up and touch tender spots. You have to be anesthetized a little bit.

Being an artist doesn't mean that you're a good artist. That was the bargain I first made with myself: I'd say, I'm an artist, but I'm not really very good.

Much of songwriting is simply a mystery.

You want to be a writer, don't know how or when? Find a quiet place, use a humble pen.

I would be willing to do almost anything to make Art happy. I care about our friendship. The only thing I won't do is change the essence of my work.

I regret the ending of our friendship and hope one day before we die, we'll make peace with each other . . . No rush.

It's a big error to think that because you like somebody's work, you're going to like him.

Breakdowns come, and breakdowns go.

Just slip out the back, Jack, make a new plan, Stan, you don't need to be coy, Roy, just get yourself free. Hop on the bus, Gus, you don't need to discuss much, just drop off the key, Lee, and get yourself free.

Listen to the sound of silence.

When I first heard Elvis perform "Bridge Over Trouble Water" it was unbelivable,and I thought to myself, how the hell can I compete with that?

I am just a poor boy, though my story's seldom told, and I have squandered my resistance, for a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises. All lies in jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest...la-la-la-la-la-la-la-lala-la-la-la-la...

People talking without speaking,/ People listening without hearing...Sounds of Silence.

Time it was And what a time it was, it was A time of innocence A time of confidences Long ago it must be I have a photograph Preserve your memories They're all that's left you

When I was 15, I made a solo record. It made Artie very unhappy. He looked upon it as something of a betrayal.

Maybe the heart is part of the mist.And that's all that there is or could ever exist.Maybe and maybe and maybe some more.Maybe's the exit that I'm looking for.

I would not be convicted by a jury of my peers, still crazy after all these years.

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

Then she kissed me and I realized she probably was right, there must be fifty ways to leave your lover.

She said a good day ain't got no rain She said a bad day is when I lie in the bed And I think of things that might have been

I'm more interested in what I discover than what I invent.

I'm not in it for the money. I like music. I love to write music. I can't imagine myself not playing or singing or writing. It would just drive me crazy if I didn't.

If you can get humor and seriousness at the same time, you've created a special little thing, and that's what I'm looking for, because if you get pompous, you lose everything.

I think my hight had the most significant single effect on my existence, aside from my brain. In fact, it's part of an inferior-superior syndrome. I think I have an inferior brain and an inferior stature, if you really want to get brutal about it.

I get the news I need on the weather report And I have nothing to do today but smile

The leaves that are green turn to brown. And they wither with the wind. And they crumble in your hand.

I try to open up my heart as much as I can and keep a real keen eye out that I don't get sentimental. I think we're all afraid to reveal our hearts. It's not at all in fashion.

I suppose an artist takes the elements of his life and rearranges them and then has them perceived by others as though they were the elements of their lives.

How much can you do with two voices? You can sing thirds or you can sing fifths or you can do a background harmony.

I always get very calm with baseball.

We got on American Bandstand, where kids would dance to a record and then rate it. We called ourselves Tom and Jerry. I was Jerry.

...everything looks worse in black and white.

It's very helpful to start with something that's true. If you start with something that's false, you're always covering your tracks. Something simple and true, that has a lot of possibilities, is a nice way to begin.

There are two sorts of people in the world: Those who listen and those who are thinking about what they are going to say next.

I lived in an attached house. My father used to drive into the wrong driveway all the time. He'd say, Damn it, how do you tell one of these houses from another?

Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?

I know a man He came from my home town He wore his passion for his woman Like a thorny crown He said "Dolores I live in fear My love for you's so overpowering I'm afraid that I will disappear

...music is sometimes the only benign avenue of communication between antagonists.

The dialogue between what's going on in the world and what's going on internally seems to be a natural thing - well, it's natural to me, anyway, to have these thoughts.

I just said, you know, this is a great track but this lyric, I don't believe it. It sounds like I'm trying to say something, instead of it naturally coming out of me, like I was saying something that I already knew. Anyway, I can't remember what it was. And either I threw it all out or I threw 90 percent of it out, and kept a line or two. That's happened a couple of times to me. Not too often, but a couple of times. Very aggravating when it does happen.

People ask how I feel about getting old. I tell them I have the same question. I'm learning as I go.

It was easier than explaining DiMaggio's use as a metaphor.

Was a sunny day, not a cloud in the sky. Not a negative word was heard.

I like them all. They're all pictures of me when I wrote them. I have no favorite songs.

I want to rid my heart of envy, and cleanse my soul of rage before I'm through.

So I'll continue to continue to pretend my life will never end, and flowers never bend with the rainfall.

I think Bridge Over Troubled Water was a very good song. Artie sang it beautifully. The Boxer was a really nice record. But I don't think I've written any great songs.

She said, why don't we both just sleep on it tonight,And I believe, in the morning you'll begin to see the light.And then she kissed me and I realized she probably was right,There must be fifty ways to leave your lover, fifty ways to leave your lover.

I've got nothing to do today but smile.

Kodachrome, it gives us those nice bright colors Gives us the greens of summers Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah! I got a Nikon camera, I love to take a photograph So momma, don't take my Kodachrome away.

Philip Larkin didn't write for several years before his life ended. And when he was asked why he didn't write, he said the muse deserted him. And when I read that, it really had a profound effect upon me, sort of scared me. So that's why I think I have no right to assume that some thought is going to come... But I think, in my imagination, if it is it, there will probably be something else I'm interested in.

Music is forever; music should grow and mature with you, following you right on up until you die.

The more I get to thinking, the less I tend to laugh.

Sail on silver girlSail on byYour time has come to shineAll your dreams are on their waySee how they shineOh, if you need a friendI'm sailing right behind.

I was eating in a Chinese restaurant downtown. There was a dish called Mother and Child Reunion. It's chicken and eggs. And I said, I gotta use that one.