I start a lot more songs than I finish, because I realize when I get into them, they're no good. I don't throw them away, I just put them away, store them, get them out of sight.

If you aren't gonna say exactly how and what you feel, you might as well not say anything at all.

I love the freedoms we got in this country, I appreciate your freedom to burn your flag if you want to, but I really appreciate my right to bear arms so I can shoot you if you try to burn mine.

You have to be what you are. Whatever you are, you gotta be it.

Life is rough so you gotta be tough.

There's a lot of things blamed on me that never happened. But then, there's a lot of things that I did that I never got caught at.

Life and love go on, let the music play.

I learn from my mistakes. It’s a very painful way to learn, but without pain, the old saying is, there’s no gain.

it's good to know who hates you and it is good to be hated by the right people

There is a spiritual side to me that goes real deep, but I confess right up front that I'm the biggest sinner of them all.

Sometimes I am two people. Johnny is the nice one. Cash causes all the trouble. They fight.

Each soul has its own note to sing in the divine chorus and no voice is more important than another. (94)

No more terrible disaster could befall your people than for them to fall into the hands of a Hero

The judgment means a lot. As a journalist being accused of invading someone's privacy, there is always a risk that it will stick to your name.

You live in the city and all the time there are signs telling you what to do and billboards trying to sell you something.

No absolute is going to make the lion lie down with the lamb: unless the lamb is inside.

Feeling and thinking are actually the blind man who carries the lame.

Men might as well be imprisoned, as excluded from the means of earning their bread.

[On Italian:] One may almost call it a language that talks of itself, and always seems more witty than its speakers.

The only time I'm the only woman in the room is when I go to the leadership meeting.

You have got to decide, look, this is who I am; this is my best way to present myself, and I'm going to ride that horse to the finish line. Not everybody will like it, but that's OK.