I was warped early by Ray Bradbury and Edgar Allan Poe. I was very fond of Franz Kafka.
Margaret AtwoodConfidence, as a teenager? Because I knew what I loved. I loved to read; I loved to listen to music; and I loved cats. Those three things. So, even though I was an only kid, I could be happy because I knew what I loved.
Haruki MurakamiThe Bible says that Christians are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. On the job, in the grocery store, even among unsaved friends and family members, God’s people are there to bring seasoning to an unsavory situation.
Joyce MeyerEvery day, my mom and I would watch a different Judy Garland VHS. I love how she tells a story when she sings. It was just about her voice and the words she was singing – no strings attached or silly hair or costumes, just a woman singing her heart out. I feel like that doesn’t happen that much anymore.
Ariana GrandeMany people listen to what I have to say and I appear a lot in media, so therefore I influence a lot of people and therefore I have a bigger responsibility because I have a bigger platform.
Greta ThunbergA song has to take on character, shape, body and influence people to an extent that they use it for their own devices. It must affect them not just as a song, but as a lifestyle.
David BowieI just love Bowie. I think he’s the ultimate inventor.
The WeekndIt’s very fun to be the hunter of the sounds. The hunter of the right energy. And it’s not really about if every sound is correct; it’s more the energy – if it hits you in some way, it doesn’t really matter to me if it’s not perfect. I’m still very excited while hunting for songs.
AuroraToday, I’d like to talk to Bob Marley. I’d just like to ask him what was his method. Bob is one of the greatest songwriters ever. I don’t know if people understand how powerful his songs are and the simplicity and genius behind them, from ‚Redemption Song‘ to ‚Is This Love?‘ and ‚I Shot the Sheriff.‘
Bruno MarsI like to combine the dramatic emotional warmth of strings with the grooves and body business of drums and bass.
David ByrneThere are certain sounds that I’ve found work well in nearly any context. Their function is not so much musical as spatial: they define the edges of the territory of the music.
Brian EnoDo something wonderful, people may imitate it.
Albert SchweitzerWhen I listen to a song, I don’t say, ‚Oh my gosh, that vocal line she sang was the best thing I ever heard.‘ I’m thinking, ‚That lyric just moves me. That lyric just said what I feel better than I could say it myself.‘
Taylor SwiftWith every word we utter, with every action we take, we know our kids are watching us. We as parents are their most important role models.
Michelle ObamaMy mami and papi love my music. They’re always listening to the radio waiting for one of my songs to come on. And when it does, they turn up the volume – and turn it back down when it’s over.
Bad BunnyI had a lot of success from the start. I never really was tested for long periods of time. I got my first professional job while I was a senior in college. I signed with the William Morris Agency before I graduated.
Denzel WashingtonI view myself as being the average woman. While I am first lady, I wasn’t first lady my whole life. I’m a product of pop culture. I’m a consumer of pop culture, and I know what resonates with people.
Michelle ObamaI love being in a courtroom.
Kamala HarrisI don’t want to make niche-oriented music.
Lady GagaI can play a lot of different instruments adequately but nothing really well.
Amy WinehouseWhen I was growing up, there was nobody in my family – not even my mother – who I could look to and be like, ‚I know you’ve never said anything homophobic.‘ So, you know, you worry about people in the business who you’ve heard talk that way. Some of my heroes coming up talk recklessly like that.
Frank OceanMy mother, I suppose, is still a main figure in my life because her life was so sad and unfair, and she so brave, but also because she was determined to make me into the Sunday-school-recitation little girl I was, from the age of seven or so, fighting not to be.
Alice MunroIt’s kind of exhilarating, walking through a crazy, insane mob. The most miraculous process is watching a song go from a tiny idea in the middle of the night to something that 55,000 people are singing back to you.
Taylor SwiftIt takes me about two hours to run into Target. People always want a picture. They hem and haw, and they can’t spit the words out, so they waste about five minutes of my time just standing there getting ready for a picture. Just do it!
Abby Lee MillerI sang a lot of low stuff on songs like ‚Secrets‘ and ‚Rockin‘,‘ almost like Toni Braxton. On ‚Secrets,‘ I’m a different person.
The WeekndI’ve been invited to do ‚Dancing With the Stars‘ three times, but Lifetime said no.
Abby Lee MillerA celebrated people lose dignity upon a closer view.
Napoleon BonaparteI stopped watching TV because of ‚The Wire.‘ Like, ‚The Wire‘ ruined everything for me because I don’t even want to watch anything else now.
EminemNothing extraordinary happens to a cricketer if you time his career – which is very short.
Virat KohliI always use Michael as, first and foremost, a vocal inspiration, and ‚Off the Wall‘ was definitely the one that made me feel like I could sing.
The WeekndI love music, and after my first experience with movies, I can’t wait to do more.
RihannaThere’s something missing in the music industry today… and it’s music. Songs you hear don’t last, it’s just product fed to you by the industry.
Jimmy BuffettIf you want to make beautiful music, you must play the black and the white notes together.
Richard M. NixonI’ve got my Grammys on top of my piano and I look at them when I play.
Taylor SwiftI wish I could tell you me and my rock band were traveling around, strung out. No, we were a family band. Straight Partridge Family.
Bruno MarsRobyn is who I am. Rihanna – that’s an idea of who I am.
RihannaIf you do not wish a man to do a thing, you had better get him to talk about it; for the more men talk, the more likely they are to do nothing else.
Thomas CarlyleI’m super serious about music. That’s, like, the only thing I’m serious about.
Kevin GatesIt’d be stupid for me to sit here and say that there aren’t kids who look up to me, but my responsibility is not to them. I’m not a baby sitter.
EminemI have never used Auto-Tune in a live television performance, and I have never used Auto-Tune in any of my concerts. That is a promise.
Taylor SwiftWhen you find a guy who is powerful, a big father figure, you latch onto him immediately.
Gordon RamsayPeople – especially white people – they want me to be a role model just because of the life I lead. The things I say in my songs, they expect it of me.
RihannaHip-hop is ever changing but you’ll always have the pack. And you’ll always have those people who are separated from the pack.
Eminem‚This guy’s a clown! He’s just all talk!‘ I’ve heard that many times in my career. And then they’re sleeping in the middle of the octagon.
Conor McGregorI think – I don’t know, maybe it’s nostalgia. But the choice, losing the choice to be able to use film is going to be – it’s gone. It’s going to be gone.
Keanu ReevesAfter silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.
Aldous HuxleyI think when people make a record with a goal in mind – like taking it to the next level or making them seem more mature – that gets in the way of writing great songs.
Taylor SwiftSisters, do you realize the breadth and scope of your influence when you speak those things that come to your heart and mind as directed by the Spirit?
Russell M. NelsonI do not think I should care to go on worshipping a Madonna even if she did wink. One cannot make much out of a wink. We want something more than that from the object of our adoration.
Charles SpurgeonI grew up thinking that a research scientist was a natural thing to be.
Stephen HawkingI mean Facebook is no longer a company, it’s a country. 2 billion users. It can influence what we think, what we believe, how we vote, what we buy, even how we feel.
John KennedyThe first rap CD that I had, it was so different for me. The energy, the wordplay, all that caught my attention, and I liked it.
Bad BunnyDoo-wop is special music to me because it’s so straightforward and melody-driven and captures emotions.
Bruno MarsWork gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it.
Stephen HawkingI think we all change each other’s paths. I don’t know which law idea that is in physics, but I don’t think any of us can live without affecting one another.
Frank OceanIn the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
Dwight D. EisenhowerThe postman wants an autograph. The cab driver wants a picture. The waitress wants a handshake. Everyone wants a piece of you.
John LennonYour personal history is a part of what happens with your hands and your head as you play music.
Dave GrohlIf I’m going to get you to do stuff, I need to lead you. I can’t just order you to do it.
Jocko WillinkMusic fills in for words a lot of the time when people don’t know what to say, and I think music can be more eloquent than words.
Bono