[My mother] called [my voice] the gift.

I knew I wanted to sing when I was a very small boy. When I was probably 4 years old. My mother played a guitar and I would sit with her and she would sing and I learned to sing along with her.

It's good to believe in yourself, but there are people out there who can make or break you.

Being rich means you get to worry about everything except money.

I met Sam Phillips when he came in [studio] and I said, I'm John Cash. I'm the one who's been calling. And if you'd listen to me, I believe you'll be glad you did. And he said, come on in. That was a good lesson for me, you know, to believe in myself.

A song stylist is, like, to take an old folk song like "Delia's Gone" and do a modern white man's version of it.

I learn from my mistakes. It’s a very painful way to learn, but without pain, the old saying is, there’s no gain.