James Taylor
I don't take compliments very easily. I think most musicians suffer from low self-esteem to some extent.
James TaylorThere'll come a writing phase where you have to defend the time, unplug the phone and put in the hours to get it done.
James TaylorIf you think my music is sentimental and self-absorbed, I agree with you.
James TaylorKnowing when to quit is probably a very important thing, but I just am not ready.
James TaylorI don't know much about God. But if everything does originate with God, then certainly songs do as well.
James TaylorThe secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.
James TaylorI was a functional addict.
James TaylorIt is a process of discovery. It's being quiet enough and undisturbed enough for a period of time so that the songs can begin to sort of peek out, and you begin to have emotional experiences in a musical way.
James TaylorI started being a songwriter pretending I could do it, and it turned out I could.
James TaylorCertain things in life are more important than the usual crap that everyone strives for.
James TaylorI'm very unstable; there's no stability in a musician's life at all. You live on a bus or on the road hand to mouth and you don't know where your money's coming from.
James TaylorFortunately, it doesn't seem to have made a lot of difference to my audience that I'm as bald as a billiard ball!
James TaylorSomehow it helps just to take something that's internal and externalize it, to see it in front of you.
James TaylorIf you feel like singing along, don't.
James TaylorIt's hard to find a way forward. When you're 18 it happens in huge chunks every day, but after 20 years, growth is much more costly.
James TaylorSobering up was responsible for breaking up my marriage. That's what it couldn't stand.
James TaylorI don't read music. I don't write it. So I wander around on the guitar until something starts to present itself.
James TaylorWhen I cleaned up some 17 odd years ago, I felt terrible for about six months. The only thing that gave me any real relief was strenuous physical activity.
James TaylorPeople should watch out for three things: avoid a major addiction, don't get so deeply into debt that it controls your life, and don't start a family before you're ready to settle down.
James TaylorIf I were to try to identify a turning point I'd say that was it - getting clean.
James TaylorIt is the most delightful thing that ever happens to me, when I hear something coming out of my guitar and out of my mouth that wasn't there before.
James TaylorI believe musicians have a duty, a responsibility to reach out, to share your love or pain with others.
James TaylorIf the gig's going really well, I'm incredibly happy on stage and really feel good about my life and things.
James TaylorIf you're an addict, it controls your life and your life becomes uncontrollable. It's boring and painful, filling your system with something that makes you stare at your shoes for six hours.
James TaylorBeing on a boat that's moving through the water, it's so clear. Everything falls into place in terms of what's important and what's not.
James Taylor
