“I went to go see the Rolling Stones in the park, and they were awful: completely out of tune. Jagger wore a frock.”

I don’t really admire musicianship per se – as is obvious from my own playing.

I wanted to be a farmer; actually, I wanted to be a horse-breeder. And I had the stallions… but then I heard Little Richard, and that was it.

You can’t win fame; you have to earn it. If you’re given fame without working for it, then you’re not going to be ready for it.

I saw the Beatles play the Cavern in Liverpool when I was 16. They had attitude: Onstage, they were like a four-headed monster.

I dislike religion quite intensely. It’s been the cause of all the grief in the world ever since they discovered the first stone to worship.

All my dreams came true. There’s not many people that can say that. I mean, most people have to work in a job they hate all their lives, and I can’t imagine that.

I don’t like people’s table manners. That really puts you off eating food.

In every kid’s life, there’s about three or four years when you’re at liberty, and after that, you have to get a job because you’re getting married or you have to support your parents or whatever it is.

I make a very good steak.

My advice wouldn’t be good to anybody. I don’t see it really being greeted with thunderous applause.

I’ve always been alone. I grew up alone. I like it that way. Even when I’m in an arena surrounded by 10,000 people, I’m alone in my head.

I like hard, aggressive music.

I once fell through a hole in the stage.

I learned that if I had known how much of this Nazi memorabilia there was to collect, I never would have started in the first place. It’s crowding me out of my house.

I was never going to be a doctor or a lawyer, so being a musician seemed to be the best of what was on offer.

The thing about death is it’s so final, isn’t it, really? As far as we know… Nobody has ever come back and told us about it.

I listened, vaguely knowing now that I had committed some awful wrong that I could not undo, that I had uttered words I could not recall even though I ached to nullify them.

Occasionally, when I get mad at a woman, I’ll do some great, awful painting about her.

I had some money, I made the best paintings ever.

I was completely reclusive, worked a lot, took a lot of drugs. I was awful to people.

You make me happy, even when you’re awful. I would rather be with you – even the you that you seem to think is diminished – than with anyone else in the world.

Everything in life has some good in it. And when something awful happens, the goodness stands out even more–it’s sad, but that’s the truth.

Honestly, I haven’t the time to read contemporary writers. I know this is awful, but in the main it is true.

I had an awful first quarter but I picked it up. To all you single guys out there, it’s not how you start the date, it’s how you finish it sir.