You can't write a song out of thin air. You have to feel and know what you are writing about. ... Talent is only a starting point. You've got to keep working that talent. Someday I'll reach for it and it won't be there. ... Life is 10 percent what you make it, and 90 percent how you take it. ... The toughest thing about success is that you've got to keep on being a success. ... After you get what you want you don't want it. ... Listen kid, take my advice, never hate a song that has sold half a million copies. ... The song is ended, but as the songwriter wrote, the melody lingers on.

How much do I love you? I'll tell you no lie. How deep is the ocean? How high is the sky?

Everybody ought to have a lower East Side in their life.

Heaven... I'm in heaven, and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak.

A patriotic song is an emotion and you must not embarrass an audience with it, or they will hate your guts.

We got to keep on being a success.

I've got my love to keep me warm.