Paul Simon Quotes

“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.”

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

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

“Elvis was the reason I picked up the guitar.”

“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.”

“I don't like fashion. It's very heartless.”

“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.”

“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'm more interested in what I discover than what I invent.”

“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.”

“Improvisation is too good to leave to chance.”

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

“It's pointless to be critical of your stuff once it's done. I don't spend a lot of time agonising over it. It's of no importance once it's finished.”

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

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

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

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

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