All Quotes

"He was fantastic. When he danced, the people danced, the girls would actually faint because of what he was doing. The people didn't care if he was white or black, he was a good artist and they felt his music."

"16) There is no cause so right that one cannot find a fool following it. To prove a point, one may seek out a foolish Socialist, thirteenth century Liberal, Scientologist, High Frontier advocate, Mensa member, science fiction fan, Jim Bakker acolyte, Christian, witch, or fanatical devotee of Special Interest Lib. It doesn't really reflect on the cause itself. Ad hominem argument saves time, but it's still a fallacy."

"17) No technique works if it isn't used."

"19) Think before you make the coward's choice. Old age is not for sissies."

"1) Writers who write for other writers should write letters."

"2) Never be embarrased or ashamed about anything you choose to write. (Think of this before you send it to a market)"

"3) Stories to end all stories on a given topic, don't."

"4) It is a sin to waste the reader's time."

"5) If you've nothing to say, say it any way you like. Stylistic innovations, contorted story lines or none, exotic or genderless pronouns, internal inconsistencies, the recipe for preparing your lover as a cannibal banquet: feel free. If what you have to say is important and/or difficult to follow, use the simplest language possible. If the reader doesn't get it then, let it not be your fault."

"6) Everybody talks first draft."

"Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology."

"I like Brando's acting ... and ... and . Quite a few of 'em I like."

"Rock and roll is a music, and why should a music contribute to ... juvenile delinquency? If people are going to be juvenile delinquents, they're going to be delinquents if they hear ... Mother Goose rhymes."

"... I just know that, right now, ... the biggest record selling business there is is rock and roll."

"I'm never going to sing another song I don't believe in. I'm never going to make another picture I don't believe in."

"It just happened. I like to sing, and well, I just started singing and folks just started listening. I can't tell folks that I worked and learned and studied, and overcame disappointments, because I didn't."

"I'd like to thank the Jaycees for electing me as one of their outstanding young men. When I was a child, ladies and gentlemen, I was a dreamer. I read comic books, and I was the hero of the comic book. I saw movies, and I was the hero in the movie. So every dream I ever dreamed, has come true a hundred times... And these gentlemen over here, these are the type of people who care, they're dedicated, and they realize that it is possible that they might be building the kingdom of heaven, it's not just too far fetched, from reality. I'd like to say that I learned very early in life that "Without a song, the day would never end; without a song, a man ain't got a friend; without a song, the road would never bend — without a song." So I keep singing a song. Goodnight. Thank you."

"The first time that I appeared on stage, it scared me to death. I really didn't know what all the yelling was about. I didn't realize that my body was moving. It's a natural thing to me. So to the manager backstage I said, "What'd I do? What'd I do?" And he said, "Whatever it is, go back and do it again.""

"The image is one thing and the human being is another...it's very hard to live up to an image."

"Man, I was tame compared to what they do now. Are you kidding? I didn't do anything but just jiggle."

"A live concert to me is exciting because of all the electricity that is generated in the crowd and on stage. It's my favorite part of the business — live concerts."

"'To judge a man by his weakest link or deed is like judging the power of the ocean by one wave.'"

"'There is a season for everything, patience will reward you and reveal all answers to your questions.'"

"'Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't going away.'"

"What honey? What is that? It's a sign, I can't see it, wait a minute. Oh, thank you darlin', thank you very much. Oh, thank you. The thought is beautiful dear, and I love you for it, but I, I haven't been caught up in this thing and I can't accept this kingship thing because to me there's only one, which is Christ."

"I had too much praise, too much flattery and fawning over and I needed to remember who I was, where I came from. One time I called a relative in Tupelo. It was Christmas and they were havin' dinner. I asked, 'What?' and she was kind of quiet, then said, 'Meat loaf.' I was shocked as we'd had the best, you know, turkey, ham, steak, everything. She said that it was near the first and they'd run out of money so they just had meat loaf. It hurt me. and so, I ate meat loaf for about eight months, every night, so I'd remember where I came from and to remind me of how many people were unable to have what I did. It was kind of a penance..."

"I'm strictly for [Adlai] Stevenson. I don't dig the intellectual bit, but I'm telling you man, he knows the most."

"Baby, if I made you mad For something I might have said, Please, let's forget the past, The future looks bright ahead. Don't be cruel to a heart that's true. I don't want no other love, Baby it's just you I'm thinking of."

"When you looked into my eyes, I stood there like I was hyp-notized. You sent a feeling to my spine, A feeling warm and smooth and fine. But all I could do were stand there paralyzed. When we kissed, ooh what a thrill, You took my hand and, ooh baby, what a chill. I felt like grabbin' you real tight, Squeeze and squeeze with all my might. But all I could do were stand there paralyzed."

"A well I bless my soul What's wrong with me? I'm itching like a man on a fuzzy tree. My friends say I'm actin' wild as a bug. I'm in love, I'm all shook up. Mm mm oh, oh, yeah, yeah!"

"The way she held your hand, The little things you planned. Her memory is with you yet, That's someone you'll never forget."

"Sweetheart we're alone And you are mine. Let's make this night a night to remember. Don't make our love a cold dying ember, For with the dawn, you'll be gone."

"Love me tender, love me sweet, Never let me go."

"The only thing black people can do for me is shine my shoes and buy my music."

"Did you ever meet Elvis Presley?"

"The test of time has at least the virtue of being unambiguous."

"Jovan knew about luck. Like wine: when luck turns sour, the whole barrel is sour."

"It’s damned embarrassing when you wake up with a girl and can’t remember her name."

"New technologies create new customs, new laws, new ethics, new crimes."

"The standard-issue critic took English lit because physics was too hard for him!"

"Perhaps, if you knew you were going to die, your senses crammed in as much detail as they could while they still had the chance..."

"'You're not going to die, are you sir?' he said. 'Of course I am. Everyone is. That's what being alive is all about.'"

"The way to deal with an impossible task was to chop it down into a number of merely very difficult tasks, and break each one of them into a group of horribly hard tasks, and each of them into tricky jobs, and each of them..."

"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."

"I do not want all critics hanged alongside the lawyers and tax collectors. The good ones serve a purpose."

"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it. (p.230, in the edition published in 1991 by Victor Gollancz, ISBN 0-575-04979-0)"

"You can't go around building a better world for people. Only people can build a better world for people. Otherwise it's just a cage. Besides you don't build a better world by choppin' heads off and giving decent girls away to frogs."

"Everything makes sense a bit at a time. But when you try to think of it all at once, it comes out wrong."

"Suicide was against the law. Johnny had wondered why. It meant that if you missed, or the gas ran out, or the rope broke, you could get locked up in prison to show you that life was really very jolly and thoroughly worth living."

"There is a rumour going around that I have found God. I think this is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist. But it is true that in an interview I gave recently I did describe a sudden, distinct feeling I had one hectic day that everything I was doing was right and things were happening as they should. It seemed like the memory of a voice and it came wrapped in its own brief little bubble of tranquillity. I'm not used to this. As a fantasy writer I create fresh gods and philosophies almost with every new book ... But since contracting Alzheimer's disease I have spent my long winter walks trying to work out what it is that I really, if anything, believe."