To me, my biggest fear is getting a big head, and that is when I get the hammer. Because it's very easy in this game to believe you're something special.

When you're 20, you can't imagine being 30. When you're 30, you can't imagine being 40. When you're 40, you can't imagine being 100.

Its called a playground, but its nearer to a battlefield. It can be brutal

One minute I'm standing at Ronnie Scott's getting a standing ovation and the next minute, I'm on a marble slab

One of the great things about songwrighting; it's not an intellectual experience

Most guys I know are assholes. I have some great asshole friends, but that's not the point. Friendship has got nothing to do with that. It's can you hang, can you talk about this without any feeling of distance between you? Friendship is the diminishing of distance between people. That's what friendship is, and to me it's one of the most important things in the world.

George Jones is a national treasure and should be treated accordingly. A unique style so often emulated even inadvertently.