Paul simon quotes

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

The only time that love is an easy game is when two other people are playing it.

I question what emotion Manilow touches. People are entertained by him. But are they emotionally moved? I don't believe anything that Barry Manilow sings.

...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 I must be what I must be and face tomorrow.

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

Time, time, time, see what's become of me, While I looked around, For my possibilities; I was so hard to please

We had many more points of agreement than we had points of difference, but we did differ, and the bigger we got, the more insistent we got that each one of us should have his way.

Serious numbers will speak to us always.

By the time I was 12 or 13, I felt that I was special, because I could play the guitar and write songs.

You know, life is what you make of it- so beautiful or so what.

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

Cecilia was made in a living room on a Sony. It was like a little piece of magical fluff, bur it works. El Condor Pasa a Los Incas record that I love. Bridge is a very strong melodic song.

There is a moment, a chip in time, when leaving home is the lesser crime.

Breakdowns come, and breakdowns go.

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 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.

Take me. I'm an ordinary player in the key of C. And my will was broken by my pride and my vanity. Who's gonna love you when you're looks are gone? God will. Like he waters the flowers on your window sill.

The trick is, as I know it, is to care like hell and not give a damn at the same time.

Why am I so soft in the middle when the rest of my life is so hard?

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

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?

The record company stay out of my way. Whenever the record is finished, they take it.

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.

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.

Faith is an island in the setting sun, But proof is the bottom line for everyone.

We've survived by believing our life is going to get better.

No one dare disturb the sound of silence...

Lord, I am a surgeon and music is my knife. It cuts away my sorrow and purifies my life.

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

As soon as your mind knows that it's on and it's supposed to produce some lines, either it doesn't or it produces things that are very predictable. And that's why I say I'm not interested in writing something that I thought about. I'm interested in discovering where my mind wants to go, or what object it wants to pick up.

I met my old lover on the street last night. She seemed so glad to see me, I just smiled. Then we talked about some old times and we drank ourselves some beers, still crazy after all these years.

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.

I have my books and my poetry to protect me

I don't consider myself to be a major talent, so the only solace I can take is to hope I'm growing.

Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon grave yard.

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

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.

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

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

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

The phrasing didn't work as well.

There must be 50 ways to leave your lover.

I'm always going forward toward something, and that something is usually an album, because I like to record. I probably like to record more than I like to write.

The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenements halls and whispered in the sounds of silence.

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.

Jay Ashby is simply a great musician!

We were always able to sing and blend well together; that's our gift. But aside from that, we're really two different guys.

I feel I should try to reveal. When you hit it right, you produce an emotional response in the listener that can be cathartic. When you're wrong, you're soppy, sentimental.

The death penalty is reserved for people who do not

We're living in a certain time, and we're aware of it. And that's part of what we're aware of, along with our own personal aches and pains.

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.

The words come. Usually, it's a long time before they come. And then when they start to come, it doesn't take so long for it to be finished. It takes a long time to begin. And then it sort of gets finished.

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

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.

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

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

These are the days of miracle and wonder.

Sail on silver girl Sail on by Your time has come to shine All your dreams are on their way See how they shine Oh, if you need a friend I'm sailing right behind.

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?"

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.

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.

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.

We work our jobs, collect our pay, believe were gliding down the highway, when in fact we're slip sliding away.

There's something about the sound of a train that's very romantic and nostalgic and hopeful.

Artie is a singer, and I'm a writer and player and a singer. We didn't work together on a creative level and prepare the songs. I did that.

All I've got to do today is smile.

I met my old lover on the street last night, she seemed glad to see me.

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

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

A man walks down the street. It's a street in a strange world. Maybe it's the third world. Maybe it's his first time around. He doesn't speak the language. He holds no currency. He is a foreign man. He is surrounded by the sound, sound of cattle in the marketplace, scatterlings and orphanages. He looks around, around he sees angels in the architecture spinning in infinity and he says, "Amen" and "Hallelujah!

And she said 'Losing love is like a window in your heart, Everybody sees you're blown apart, Everybody feels the wind blow.'

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.

It was the year of the Beatles, it was the year of the Stones, it was 1964.

Much of songwriting is simply a mystery.

Some people never say the words ‘I love you’, for like a child they’re longing to be told.

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

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

The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains.

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.

And you read your emily dickinson, And I my robert frost. And we note our place with bookmarkers That measure what weve lost.

Given all the facts that I'm young and I'm in good health and I'm famous - that I have talent, I have money - given all these facts, I want to know why I'm so unhappy.

All lies and jests, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.

After all those years of automatic success, you don't get nervous any more. It's really necessary to be nervous and be a little bit frightened. It pumps the adrenalin into you and you really get down there and try.

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

Losing love is like a window in your heart.

I'm laying out my winter clothes and wishing I was gone, Going home, where the new york city winters aren't bleedin' me.

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

I've got nothing to do today but smile.

Big box just wasn't our strength. We are a men's and boy's specialty store focused on providing high quality clothing with custom tailoring. Our customer is king. When we had seven stores, communication between the stores and with our customers became more disconnected. We started to lose that great family 'camaraderie' that is essentially the key to our success.

I don't think [Dylan and the Beatles] influenced me a lot. I think it was inevitable; they were so powerful that you couldn't really escape the influence.

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.

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.

A lot of talent is a gift, but a lot is also luck. I'm very aware of that. I was born in the right place at the right time. I am also blessed because I've never been a sex symbol. I'm spared the embarrassment of acting young.

Who am I to blow against the wind?

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

Nor is it strange That after changes upon changes, we are more or less the same

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

Improvisation is too good to leave to chance.

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

Far above the golden clouds, the darkness vibrates. The earth is blue. And everything about it is a love song. Everything about it.

My whole artistic life has always been about change, change, change, move on, move on. It's the only thing I find interesting.

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 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.

I'm going to Graceland, for reasons I cannot explain. There's some part of me wants to see Graceland. And I may be advised to defend every love, every ending, or maybe there's no obligations now. Maybe I've a reason to believe we all will be received in Graceland.

There are lots of really good guitarists, but they play with the same pedals that everybody else does. Everybody buys the same pedals, so the sounds tend to be the same. I am looking for different ways of doing that without having to spend days and weeks and months fooling around with pedals, which I don't enjoy.

It's actually very difficult to make something both simple and good.

When I look back at all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can think at all.

The abstract music is just more interesting because it doesn't really have anything to say, but if it is good, it creates thoughts and feelings, and I enjoy that. For me, once the music creates those thoughts and feelings, I begin to write a song about it.

And so you see I have come to doubt -All that I once held as true ~ I stand alone without beliefs -The only truth I know is you

In the clearing stands the boxer, and a fighter by his trade. And he carries a reminder of every glove that laid him down... or cut him till he cried out in his anger and his shame "I am leaving! I am leaving" but the fighter still remains.

Maybe I think too much for my own good.

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

People often called us perfectionists, but we were not looking for perfection. We were looking for some kind of magic in the music.

Life I love you, all is groovy.

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

I sort of recognize it, as opposed to shaping it. Oh, that's a good idea, that's a good line. I wonder where I can use that. And when you get into a rhyme group like 'not,' you got a lot of rhymes, you got a lot of choices. The more you do it, the luckier you get.

All God requires from us is to enjoy life and love. That's the whole point.

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.

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

Take two bodies and you twirl them into one, their hearts and their bones, and they won't come undone.

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.

Instead of thinking in terms of chords, I think of voice-leading; that is, melody line and bass line, and where the bass line goes. If you do that, you'll have the right chord. [These voices] will give you some alternatives, and you can play those different alternatives to hear which one suits your ear. Keep the bass line moving so you don't stay in one spot: if you have an interesting bass line and you roll it against the melody, the chords are going to come out right.

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.

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