Billy Joel Quotes (134 Quotes)

Like a boxer in a title fight, you have to walk in that ring alone.

I was drawn to boxing because I got beat up as a kid. I was the kid with the piano books in a New York neighbourhood.

It's really hard to make a living as a musician. It's almost impossible.

She's got a way about her...I don't know what it is... but I know that I can't live without her...

There are certain artists who have taken it upon themselves to save the world, and I find that gets tiresome. I think the artist's first obligation is to the art, not to the issues . . . I think if I have something to say the best way to do that is just to tell a damn good story.

...now as we induldge, in things refined,we hide our hearts, from harder times...

It's okay if you mess up. You should give yourself a break.

People in music lie, but they don't expect you to believe them. People in television actually expect you to believe the lies.

You want to give people a reason to hate my guts more? I'm making more money.

I think historically America has been pretty tolerant. It seems when there's a mass influx from one place, that's when it becomes problematic for Americans.

Went off to school, and learned to serve the state.Followed the rules, and drank his vodka straight.The only way to live was 'drown the hate'.The Russian life was very sad, and such was life in Leningrad.

I don't know if people are going to remember some of these songs we're going to do tonight. Hell, I don't know if we're going to remember some of these.

You can't go home with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You don't sleep with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You don't get hugged by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and you don't have children with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I want what everybody else wants to love and to be loved, and to have a family. Being in love has always been the most important thing in my life.

I'm kind of in a dark place. And I know some people are actually excited about that, because they think I'll write an album about being sad. But that's not what my music is about. There have been times when I've done that, but I'm not going to do it again.

In every heart there is a room A sanctuary safe and strong To heal the wounds from lovers past Until a new one comes along.

I have been both praised and criticized. The criticism stung, but the praise sometimes bothered me even more. To have received such praise and honors has always been puzzling to me.

It's awful hard trying to make love long distance, but I really need stimulation.

Go on and cry in your coffee, but don't come bitching to me.

Slow down you're doing fine You can't be everything you want to be Before your time.

When I was 19, I made my first good week's pay as a club musician. It was enough money for me to quit my job at the factory and still pay the rent and buy some food. I freaked.

Does Joel feel a particular resonance with any of this year's other nominees Sure, he says -- Paul McCartney, because of the Beatles. The Beatles were the band that made me realize it was possible to make a living as a musician, ... When I heard the Beatles, I said, 'That's what I want to do'

You've got your passion. You've got your pride.But don't you know that only fools are satisfiedDream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true.

Honesty is such a lonely word Everyone is so untrue Honest is hardly ever heard And mostly what I need from you.

Videos destroyed the vitality of rock and roll. Before that, music said, Listen to me. Now it says, Look at me.

Who was wrong Who was rightIt didn't matter in the thick of the fight...

The whole world loves American movies, blue jeans, jazz and rock and roll. It is probably a better way to get to know our country than by what politicians or airline commercials represent.

If I need a cause for celebration Or a comfort I can use to ease my mind I rely on my imagination And I dream of an imaginary time.

We all have a face that we hide away forever,And we take them out and show ourselves when everyone has gone.Some are satin, some are steel, some are silk and some are leather.They're the faces of the stranger and we love to try them on.

If you want to know what life is like in the Soviet Union, go to your local department of motor vehicles

We might be laughing a bit too loudBut that never hurt no one.

We all end in the ocean. We all start in the streams.We're all carried along by the River of Dreams.

As an atheist you have to rationalize things. . . . Then you have to try and make some sort of sense out of your problems. And if you try and find you can't, you have no choice but to be good and scared -- but that's okay

Clear as a crystal... Sharp as a knife...I feel like I'm in the prime of my life.

Artist - musicians, painters, writers, poets, always seem to have had the most accurate perception of what is really going on around them, not the official version or the popular perception of contemporary life.

My songs are like my kids.

The joy of life is made up of obscure and seemingly mundane victories that give us our own small satisfactions.

Don't make music for some vast, unseen audience or market or ratings share or even for something as tangible as money. Though it's crucial to make a living, that shouldn't be your inspiration. Do it for yourself.

I did write a letter to the archdiocese who'd banned the song, Only the Good Die Young, asking them to ban my next record.

I keep telling people: Don't make me the poster boy for AA because I don't know a lot about sobriety, but I do know a lot about drinking.

Some people stay far away from the door if theres a chance of it opening up. They hear a voice in the hall outside and hope that it just passes by.

Now, we lives our lives...So nonchalant...We spend our time...So 'Bon Vivant'...Our stylish nights...So well-arranged...Those tasteful words that we exchange...We know it's all a passing phase.

More than art, more than literature, music is universally accessible.

You see firemen, you see cops, and these guys risk their lives everyday. They do this all the time . . . to be able to see a smile on some of these people's faces -- they've gone through so much, they've lost so many of their friends.

If we're going to keep ourselves interested, we can't play for the reviewer and we can't just play for the audience. In the end, you have to just play for yourself.

And the word spread of Billy the Kid.

You Catholic girls start much too late But sooner or later it comes down to fate I might as well be the one.

Why do musicians give so much time to charitable causes? The most humanitarian cause that we can give our time to is the creation and performance of music itself.

I'd rather laugh in bed than do it. If I went to a lady of the night, I'd probably pay her to tell me jokes. Would that be perverted

In an age of incompetence, I've been able to last in this crazy business. I actually know how to play my ax and write a song. That's my job.

When I look at great works of art or listen to inspired music, I sense intimate portraits of the specific times in which they were created.