My daddy left home when I was three and he didn't leave much to Ma and me, just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town.

I had a song called "Folsom Prison Blues" that was a hit just before "I Walk The Line." And the people in Texas heard about it at the state prison and got to writing me letters asking me to come down there. So I responded and then the warden called me and asked if I would come down and do a show for the prisoners in Texas.

You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone.

He was removed from jail and placed in a place for the insensitive and insane.

I love the freedoms we got in this country, I appreciate your freedom to burn your flag if you want to, but I really appreciate my right to bear arms so I can shoot you if you try to burn mine.

My mother told me to keep on singing, and that kept me working through the cotton fields. She said God has his hand on you. You'll be singing for the world someday.