“To me, the main thing about living on this planet is to know who the hell you are and be real about it. That’s the reason I’m still alive.”

[John] Belushi was an extreme experience even by my standards.

You see, to me, the art of music is listening to it, not playing it. The real art of it is hearing it.

This is the rock ‘n’ roll life, and you had to invent it as you went along. There was no textbook to say how you operate this machinery.

Nobody wants to get old, but nobody wants to die young either.

I looked upon myself, in a sort of romantic and silly way, as like a laboratory.

It’s an addiction and addiction is something I should know something about.

You’ve got the sun, you’ve got the moon, and you’ve got the Rolling Stones.

If you say I’m great, thank you very much. But I know what I am. I could be better, man, you know?

Yes, I’ve been trepanned. That’s quite an interesting experience, especially for my brain surgeon, who saw my thoughts flying around in my brain.

You know, the BBC had not been particularly generous in its deliverance of blues and esoteric kinds of music.

Some people think I’m a mythical genius, others think I’m a junkie madman.

The idea of retiring is like killing yourself. It’s almost like Hari Kari. I intend to live to a 100 and go down in history.

I don’t encourage anybody to do what I do, you know? Why should you? More for me!

You get onstage and make other people feel happy. Make them feel good.

I’ve never had a problem with drugs. I’ve had problems with the police.

You can’t accuse me of anything I haven’t already confessed to.

I know it won’t be eight medals again. If you want to compare me to that, that’s your decision, not mine. I’m going out there to try to accomplish the things that I have in my mind and in my heart.

A wet spot on the floor kind of put a scare in myself, so you never know inside those lines what might happen.

I’ve been in that situation three or four times before where I’m losing the fight – the fight seems almost over with – and I knew I had to finish him and stop playing possum as much.

It would be cool to let people know that it doesn’t matter what kind of background you have in your past, that you can still make something out of your life.

Believing that no one is better than the other. You know I grew up in the South. My senior year there was a very big racial tension.

I think there is a sense of ownership in knowing, isn’t there? You let people in, and they claim parts of you-they fly their flag over uncharted territory and from then onward-you cease to belong wholly to yourself.

My brother and I ended up being known for our distance, but we had no idea how far we could hit the ball because we hit it the same, and all of a sudden.

There’s a difference in thinking you are a champion and knowing that you are.