“Talent is only a starting point.”

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas With every Christmas card I write May your days be merry and bright And may all your Christmases be white.

After you get what you want you don’t want it.

There is an element of truth in every idea that lasts long enough to be called corny.

When I’m worried and I can’t sleep I count my blessings instead of sheep.

Everybody ought to have a lower East Side in their life.

Popular music is popular because a lot of people like it.

The song is ended, but the melody lingers on.

Got no checkbooks, got no banks. Still I’d like to express my thanks – I’ve got the sun in the mornin’ and the moon at night.

A patriotic song is an emotion and you must not embarrass an audience with it, or they will hate your guts.

Music is so important. It changes thinking, it influences everybody, whether they know it or not. Music knows no boundary lines.

Gos bless America, my home sweet home.

Our attitudes control our lives. Attitudes are a secret power working twenty-four hours a day, for good or bad. It is of paramount importance that we know how to harness and control this great force.

The toughest thing about success is that you’ve got to keep on being a success.

Heaven… I’m in heaven, and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak.

The world would not be in such a snarl, had Marx been Groucho instead of Karl.

All alone by the telephone.

I was shy, but it came out in a big personality. My turning point was when I let my hair go naturally and I got contact lenses. I am really blind, by the way. I have these big eyes that don’t work!

And what’s the point of changing when I’m happy as I am?

It’s about up here man [points to his head]. All these guys are not with me mentally.

I’m getting to a point in my life where my whole attitude about the relationship between myself and the audience is totally different.

We had many more points of agreement than we had points of difference, but we did differ, and the bigger we got, the more insistent we got that each one of us should have his way.

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

If you don’t know the blues there’s no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock and roll or any other form of popular music.

There were points at which I was trying to use my art to reflect positively on myself, to almost be flirtatious through the work.