Paul Simon Quotes

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

“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.”

“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.”

“I've got nothing to do today but smile.”

“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 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.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“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.”

“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.”

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

“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”

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

“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?”

“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.”

“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.”

“...everything looks worse in black and white.”

“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.”

“I always get very calm with baseball.”

“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 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.”