“Fame has killed more very talented guys than drugs. Jimi Hendrix didn’t die of an overdose, he died of fame.”

I consider my job [being a musician] is to have a little idea and nurture it and put it in some form that everybody else can understand and then sort of pass it on. It’s really a passing through. In other words, you receive and you transmit.

Everybody thinks you reach a certain age and you’re a grownup, but it’s not true. Nobody grows up until the day they croak.

Poison’s not bad. It’s a matter of how much.

I achieved everything I wanted to achieve by being in the Rolling Stones and making records.

Love has sold more songs than you’ve had hot dinners.

Guitar is easy, all it takes is 5 fingers, 6 strings and 1 a**hole.

Preaching is tax free. Very little to do with God, a lot to do with money.

I never sleep alone. If there is no one to sleep next to, I’ll sleep next to a stuffed animal. It makes me feel secure and safe. It’s a little embarrassing to admit it; I’m an old man now. It’s important to me though.

True friends. Hardest thing to find, but you never look for them – they found you ; you just grow into each other

Let me be clear about this. I don’t have a drug problem. I have a police problem.

You don’t find a style. A style finds you.

Everybody starts by imitating their heroes. For me it was Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters.

I’ve never had inner turmoil about all this. You find a lot of people these days who cannot stand to be alone. You could lock me up in solitary for weeks on end, and I’d keep myself amused.

A painter’s got a canvas. The writer’s got reams of empty paper. A musician has silence.

To make a rock’n’roll record, technology is the least important thing.

I am not doing it just for the money or for you. I am doing it for me.