Top 1200 Quotes & Sayings by Famous Musicians - Page 8

Always be yourself and rebel against what people tell you should be and be whatever you want to.

So much of performing is a mind game. You're memorizing thousands of notes, and if you start thinking about it in the wrong way, everything can blow up in your face.

The only time I ever really got into rap was back in the early '90s, and bands like A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Gang Starr. Musically, they were really interesting. But when hip-hop acts start sampling Sting or Phil Collins, then I just don't get it at all.

People can say whatever they want about you without knowing the facts. They can criticize you without even knowing you, and hate you when they don't even know you. All of a sudden, you're, like, the bin Laden of America. Osama bin Laden is the only one who knows exactly what I'm going through.

A lot of what I've done as Nine Inch Nails has been governed by fear. I was trying to keep the songs in a framework that was tough, and I learnt a lot from Jesus and Mary Chain about how to bury nice pop songs in unlistenable noise - the idea being if you can get behind that wall, you find there's a pearl inside.

At the end of the day, I'm out of here - above anything.

I've always said that Adele has turned so many people on to British singers - whether female singers or just like music from this country in general.

I'm all about peace. I'm all about unity. I'm all about love.

I've met very lonely people who have 10,000 friends on Facebook. And it's just not real. We've set up this artificial society in cyberspace. And that's supposed to be a community, like a real community. It's supposed to be where people go to get solace or friendship or have fun.

Love is the most powerful thing in the world, and you know, what love brings is joy.

At the risk of sounding pedestrian, I'll be completely honest: the first thing I do in the morning is check Google News, partially because it seems sort of random and unbiased and partially because I tend to stay in hotels that don't necessarily have the fastest Internet connections.

Because of the media, the way the world is perceived is as a place where resources and time are running out. We're taught that you have to grab what you can before it's gone. It's almost as if there isn't time for compassion.

C-17s should be ready to go at various military bases around the world packed with water, food, medical supplies, sleeping bags and tents, all prepared to be air dropped in alongside soldiers and doctors to begin relief efforts.

If you're familiar with my man Uncle Sam, you understand the only way you can actually feel better about what he's gonna take, come the end of the year, is lifestyle. Only thing you can do is spend some of it.

In art and dream may you proceed with abandon. In life may you proceed with balance and stealth.

I believe you can achieve anything if you work hard enough to get it.

Look at people for an example, but then make sure to do things your way. Surround yourself with positive people.

Playing the game, and unfortunately, playing the gangster game is very profitable.

It's important to give it all you have while you have the chance.

I believe in professionalism, but playing is not like a job. You have to be grateful to have the opportunity to play.

The world is in your hands, now use it.

I stay away from the title of 'role model.' I want to be a more realistic role model - not a perfect Barbie role model.

We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being confused with knowledge; quantity is being confused with abundance and wealth with happiness.

If you don't stand for something, how can anyone respect what you do?

I'm so horny the crack of dawn better watch out.

I think performance art comes from a simple place of wanting to express things beyond just sound.

I was never pushed into the religion by my mother or anyone else. I made up my own mind when I was old enough. I am not a religious person, but I am spiritual.

Do I think it's OK to fight authority as long as you're only talking about the high school teacher? No.

What fascinates me about addiction and obsessive behavior is that people would choose an altered state of consciousness that's toxic and ostensibly destroys most aspects of your normal life, because for a brief moment you feel okay.

I have late-stage Lyme disease. I was misdiagnosed for many, many years and told I had lupus, MS, Crohn's disease, even degenerative arthritis. And finally in 2010, I got the correct diagnosis, because on the last Le Tigre tour, I was having several seizures a day and at times not being able to brush my own teeth.

Destiny has a lot to do with it, but so do you. You have to persevere, you have to insist.

I think I'm unique to the game 'cause of my versatility.

I thought that Wu-Tang was the best sword style - the best sword-style of martial arts. And the tongue is like a sword. And so I say that we have the best lyrics, so, therefore, we are the Wu-Tang Clan.

Key is never be afraid of being yourself. Never!

There's no life without humour. It can make the wonderful moments of life truly glorious, and it can make tragic moments bearable.

There's a big difference between falling in love with someone and falling in love with someone and getting married. Usually, after you get married, you fall in love with the person even more.

You can't come out on a record dissing the system and be on a label that's connected to the system.

There are a lot of people who really abused sampling and gave it a bad name, by just taking people's entire hit songs and rapping over them. It gave publishers license to get a little greedy.

In this life, to earn your place you have to fight for it.

Just be confident. I think confidence is the most attractive part of a person.

I have two or three guys that I'm really close to. We have a great friendship, and I think that helps our songwriting relationship. It's hard to start... with new people and cover the ground that I've covered with those guys.

You can't get around pain and opposition, but you can try to be joyful in the trial, and thank yourself for the trial, and thank God for the strength to get through it.

We should be led by principles and morals and not by men.

I've never been cool and I don't really care about being cool. It's just an awful lot of time and hair gel wasted.

Everyone talks about rock these days; the problem is they forget about the roll.

I know what it's like to be an outcast in society. I know what it's like to want to find strength, and more importantly, I know what it's like to find that internal strength and rise out of the pain of being just sort of a weirdo.

There are bands that I got into when I was 15, when I was mad at my dad and just wanted to be different. I don't think I'd give those bands half a chance now. But I hold some kind of nostalgia for them that I won't let go. Bands like Minor Threat and Black Flag.

It's a very, very interesting experience to be talking to people who are such icons in their own right. When Adele came to a show, I was just talking to her, and at the time, I thought, 'I'm just having a chat with somebody.' But then I heard myself say, 'Oh, I was talking to Adele the other day,' and it's as strange as you'd imagine.

Music should come crashing out of your speakers and grab you, and the lyrics should challenge whatever preconceived notions that listener has.

I believe in reincarnation, and I believe I've lived quite a few lives.

Other people will call me a rebel, but I just feel like I'm living my life and doing what I want to do. Sometimes people call that rebellion, especially when you're a woman.

I have no one to leave the money to. I'm a single man. I like spending my money.

Vinyl is the real deal. I've always felt like, until you buy the vinyl record, you don't really own the album. And it's not just me or a little pet thing or some kind of retro romantic thing from the past. It is still alive.

Skip the religion and politics, head straight to the compassion. Everything else is a distraction.

It's sort of a feeling of power onstage. It's really the ability to make people smile, or just to turn them one way or another for that duration of time, and for it to have some effect later on. I don't really think it's power... it's the goodness.

Even in the most beautiful music there are some silences, which are there so we can witness the importance of silence.

I ain't giving up on myself, so if you give up on me, I ain't got nothing else to say for you.

Your art kind of changes as you get older, by nature of the fact that you're hopefully gaining wisdom and you're starting to watch things with a better overview.

The person who knows HOW will always have a job. The person who knows WHY will always be his boss.

Don't ask for a million dollars. Ask for the stuff that'll get you a million dollars - your health, your brain, your sanity, wisdom. Prepare me for when I do get that million. Make sure I don't go crazy, make sure I help my family.