Singing as a full-time job was not something I had given a lot of thought to and I had no clear notion of the money to be made in it.

For most entertainers, there is a single experience, one defining moment, when confidence replaces the self-doubt that most of us wrestle with.

The tastes of country music fans are not limited to the narrow range defined by consultants and programmers and record company moguls.

It used to be that if you had a pretty good record, you could stop by a station in Little Rock or Atlanta and let the DJ listen to it. No way something like that can happen now.

The time I spent thinking about how I was better than somebody else or worrying about somebody else's attitude was time I could put to better use.

I finally came to terms with manic depression and lithium. I've taken lithium regularly for the past few years and have had no further bouts with manic depression.

Fans are what make a performer and I've always taken them seriously.

A fan will grab you and hug you and will not let go. When that happens, you wish it could be that way all over the world.

There only have been two people on this earth that I was nervous around: Chet Atkins and Mickey Mantle. It's because of the respect I have for them.

No one had ever told me that whites were supposed to sing one kind of music and blacks another - I sang what I liked in the only voice I had.

I learned to tune a guitar by ear. That method has served me pretty well.

f you wish to put off all worry, assume that what you fear may happen is certainly going to happen.

The less you know, the less your children can learn from you, the more you know, the more they can also learn from you..

All that I ask out of life is that it be constant and unending euphoria.

You either LIVE or you THINK!

A murderer is a killer without a uniform.

Is there anyone nearby you can speak to without words?”“I don’t know. I only know that there are those whose minds I can speak with that, when I show them how, speak back to my mind as well.

We are always getting ready to live but never living.

I've been trying to pick up painting but it's hard.

Who owns the NY Post? 20th Century Fox. Talk about vertical integration.

I wish I had a gentle mind and a spine made up of iron.