Sam Phillips always encouraged me to do it my way, to use whatever other influences I wanted, but never to copy...if there hadn't been a Sam Phillips, I might still be working in a cotton field.

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.

Maybe it's better this way-that we keep our darknesses close, hidden in our minds, protected by our hearts.

The best way to achieve surprise quality is by avoiding cliches.

My parents were very protective. I couldn't even cross the street without them getting all excited, and placing bets.

Baseball was my refuge. When I came on the field, I did my job, and did the best I could and focused on that. Then I went home and I was miserable. That was pretty much my routine every day.?

With empathy, I'm fully with them, not full of them — that's sympathy.

A man is not learned because he talks much; he who is patient, free from hatred and fear, he is called learned.

I think the most critical needs of the African-American communities aren't being addressed primarily because of decisions being made by Republican Congressional leaders.

If any race of people should not have guilt about slavery, it's Caucasians.

For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.

There is in every village a torch - the teacher; and an extinguisher - the priest.