James Taylor Quotes

Certain things in life are more important than the usual crap that everyone strives for.

It 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.

We all have to face pain, and pain makes us grow.

Somehow it helps just to take something that`s internal and externalize it, to see it in front of you.

I don`t take compliments very easily. I think most musicians suffer from low self-esteem to some extent.

If I were to try to identify a turning point I`d say that was it - getting clean.

I don`t know much about God. But if everything does originate with God, then certainly songs do as well.

I started being a songwriter pretending I could do it, and it turned out I could.

Time will take your money, but money won`t buy time.

I was in chemical jail.

If you feel like singing along, don`t.

I can take criticisms but not compliments.

People 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.

I believe 100 percent in the power and importance of music.

Americans work a long away ahead of themselves because of the size of the place. To make any impact at all you have to promote yourself with live performances ages before a release.

It`s probably foolish to expect relationships to go on forever and to say that because something only lasts 10 years, it`s a failure.

I believe musicians have a duty, a responsibility to reach out, to share your love or pain with others.

It`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.

I was a functional addict.

You have to choose whether to love yourself or not.

I`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.

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.

Fortunately, it doesn`t seem to have made a lot of difference to my audience that I`m as bald as a billiard ball!

Music is like a huge release of tension.

Once you get that two-way energy thing going, everyone benefits hugely.

I don`t think anyone really says anything new.

It 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.

When 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.

If you think my music is sentimental and self-absorbed, I agree with you.

Knowing when to quit is probably a very important thing, but I just am not ready.

Sobering up was responsible for breaking up my marriage. That`s what it couldn`t stand.

I think that we`re all totally isolated beings and always will be.

I am myself for a living. I don`t animate a character.

If 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.

I think people are isolated because of the nature of human consciousness, and they like it when they feel the connection between themselves and someone else.

Being 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.

I don`t read music. I don`t write it. So I wander around on the guitar until something starts to present itself.

If the gig`s going really well, I`m incredibly happy on stage and really feel good about my life and things.

That`s the motivation of an artist - to seek attention of some kind.

There`ll come a writing phase where you have to defend the time, unplug the phone and put in the hours to get it done.