Top 84 Quotes & Sayings by Merle Haggard

Sometimes if you get 'em too drunk they don't pay no attention to what you're doin' anyways, so you might as well just do old songs. But if you get one that's paying attention, sometimes we'll do some new material.

There's a rumor that there may be an attempt at organizing a possible script for a series on my life, which, when you look at my police record, you'd have to have more than one hour to tell the story.

And there's some Latino music I like, and some reggae music.

I've got two families.

I had some surgery on my feet, which has helped my back some.

They shaved a little piece of bone off my small toe. You see, you balance yourself a certain way and this toe had grown under the other ones. So he cut it loose, where I could balance myself and it makes me walk straight.

At my age, I don't buy but a half a loaf of bread, you know?

I haven't had any problems with my back since I got the foot surgery.

I think I'm most proud of my family right now. I'm more into that then I've ever been. It also gives a new area to draw from in creativity with my songs.

HAG Records, is a company that I've owned. I've had a couple of gospel releases on it. We developed a pretty good distribution setup there and we do have something to use in case they don't want to sign us.

I was 48-years old before anybody talked me into it for medicinal purposes, instead of some of these drugs that they give you that will lead you to heart surgery and things of that nature.

And then, of course, there's a couple that claim to be, but I haven't done any DNA tests or anything.

The only thing that I miss lately in all music is somebody that will put out a melody that you can whistle. It doesn't seem like there's anything happening like that.

And then I have two children by Theresa, one boy 10 and one girl 13.

When you get to readin' about where the music and John Steinbeck and all those people like that come from, the further you go the more interesting it becomes.

Everybody likes Johnny Cash. I think the sad part of it is his health is givin' him problems.

No, I had a back injury early on in my life.

My second wife Bonnie Owens and I worked together after we divorced for a period of maybe 20 years. And I managed to stay friends with another wife. And then there's one that I don't mess with. Everybody's got one of those.

Well, I'm kinda like George Carlin. I think that there ought to be a time where everybody should have all the drugs they want and there'd be nobody in charge, sort of like... now!

There's been periods of broadcasts in the past where you could see all ages of entertainers, ranging from George Burns to Shirley Temple. That's not the condition now.

My 10 year old son likes it. He's trying to play guitar and everything. He likes that kind of music.

In 1960, when I came out of prison as an ex-convict, I had more freedom under parolee supervision than there's available... in America right now.

It's easier to force feed people than it is to give 'em what they want. It makes more money.

I've got one young family by the first wife, with four children.

When I grew up there wasn't air-conditioning or anything of that nature, and this old car had a wall thickness of about ten inches. So we had a little warmer house in the winter and a little cooler in the summer.

It's been said that Bill Gates has come up with something that'll be released in December that's gonna put a lid on counterfeiting. If that's a fact then it's really interesting to own your own product - with all the potential methods of downloading.

'Cause I was already a smoker, it was easy to get addicted. The one thing that they don't teach you about marijuana is how addictive it is.

I'm just writin' about my little ol' love affair.

It makes my wife mad, you know, she wants me to stay home all the time. But its what I've done all my life and I think when I quit doing it I'll probably go away pretty quick.

Diana Krall knocks me out. I like jazz and I like her simple approach.

It sounds like something from a Woody Guthrie song, but it's true; I was raised in a freight car.

I enjoy the videos with the sound off, where you can look at the belly buttons and everything. Really some pretty girls, but I don't know about the music.

95% of the album is my writing, by choice, because it seems to be what the distributors want.

Read about some squirrelly guy who claims that he just don't believe in fighting, and I wonder how long the rest of us can count on being free.

I wish coke was still cola and a joint was a bad place to be.

This is America. We're proud. We're not afraid of a bunch of terrorists. But this government is all about terror alerts and scaring us at airports. We're changing the Constitution out of fear. We spend all our time looking up each other's dresses. Fear's the only issue the Republican Party has. Vote for them, or the terrorists will win. That's not what Reagan was about. I hate to think about our soldiers over in Iraq fighting for a country that's slipping away.

There's one thing I never did do, and that was stink.

We are under [government's] control, and if people don't realize that, they haven't looked around. And if they're not paranoid, they haven't thought about it.

Willie Nelson's the one who told me the reason it costs so much to get divorced is because it's worth it.

There's two kind of cherries, and two kind of fairies, and two kind of mothers I'm told.

If I hear another line dance song I think I'm going to puke.

By the time you get close to the answers, it's nearly all over.

Lay in the weeds and wait, and when you get your chance to say something, say something good.

We need to have music that contributes to the well-being of the spirit. Music that cradles people's lives and makes things a little easier. That's what I try to do, and what I want to do. You don't want to close the door on hope.

There's just a few people that call themselves stars can actually sit down with a guitar and sing you a song.

There's two or three kids out there trying to make good music, and the rest of them sound like it's been strained through some kind of white toast or something. It all sounds just too neat and perfect, with no surprise to it at all. No story, no nothing. It's like building cars, like an assembly line. It doesn't sound like anything that came from a guitar.

Stop rolling down hill like a snow ball headed for hell.

I'll tell you what the public likes more than anything, it's the most rare commodity in the world - honesty.

If I had a choice, and there was a "Y" in the road, I would always take the one that was more fun as opposed to the one that might make me more money.

Running down on a way of life our fighting men have fought and died to keep. If you don't love it, leave it.

Momma tried to raise me better, but her pleading I denied, and that leaves only me to blame, cause Momma tried.

A house without love ain't a home.

The Captain just gave us our orders, and Mom we must carry them through. I'll finish this letter first chance I get, but for now I'll just say I love you.

Keep your opinions to yourself. I think it's important that I stay neutral on politics and remain hard to understand. I don't want to be pigeonholed as conservative, liberal, independent or anything. I back the man for the things the man believes in, not whether it says "R" or "D" down there beside his name.

Staring at the world through the bottom of a glass, all I see is a man who's fading fast.

The thing that bothers me the most is the recklessness and greed of the local ranchers, who run too many cattle back here, choking with waste the creek that runs through my property. There's certain times of day that the cowboys like to send them turds down the river. Them f**kers piss me off. if you gotta mess up the ecology of the world in order to raise a bunch of cows, well eat somethin else. I'm not a fan of the cowboys.

To be part of what you're singing about is somewhat painful. You've got to climb inside it all.

It's a long way from Graceland across Jordan to the Promised Land, but Jesus finally came to lead him home.

Faith is the only way we're going to make it. None of us are smart enough to do it on our own.

Hey, hey, the working man, the working man like me. I ain't never been on welfare, that's one place I won't be.