Merle Haggard Quotes

I had some surgery on my feet, which has helped my back some.

HAG Records, is a company that I've owned. I've had a couple of gospel releases on it. We developed a pretty good distribution setup there and we do have something to use in case they don't want to sign us.

My second wife Bonnie Owens and I worked together after we divorced for a period of maybe 20 years. And I managed to stay friends with another wife. And then there's one that I don't mess with. Everybody's got one of those.

I'll tell you what the public likes more than anything, it's the most rare commodity in the world - honesty.

If I had a choice, and there was a "Y" in the road, I would always take the one that was more fun as opposed to the one that might make me more money.

We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee, we don't take trips on LSD. We don't burn our draft cards down on Main Street, we like living right and free.

It's been said that Bill Gates has come up with something that'll be released in December that's gonna put a lid on counterfeiting. If that's a fact then it's really interesting to own your own product - with all the potential methods of downloading.

It's a long way from Graceland across Jordan to the Promised Land, but Jesus finally came to lead him home.

It's easier to force feed people than it is to give 'em what they want. It makes more money.

If I hear another line dance song I think I'm going to puke.

I don't think there's ever been a friendly divorce.

Faith is the only way we're going to make it. None of us are smart enough to do it on our own.

Diana Krall knocks me out. I like jazz and I like her simple approach.

A house without love ain't a home.

I just follow my nose, and instead of letting someone run my affairs and probably make me wealthy within a matter of years, I've just kept the board of directors down to zero. I make all the decisions, and they can't all be right, and my lifestyle is very expensive, so that means I have to work a lot. It's the opposite side of the coin from sinking back into the recliner and becoming somebody they bury.

Lay in the weeds and wait, and when you get your chance to say something, say something good.

And there's some Latino music I like, and some reggae music.

There's two kind of cherries, and two kind of fairies, and two kind of mothers I'm told.

The turn I made was not the one I planned. And I watched my social standing slip away from me, while I watched the bottle slowly take command.

It sounds like something from a Woody Guthrie song, but it's true; I was raised in a freight car.

We need to have music that contributes to the well-being of the spirit. Music that cradles people's lives and makes things a little easier. That's what I try to do, and what I want to do. You don't want to close the door on hope.

Guitar playing is very important to me. It's like golf to some other people; it's important to me that I play good.

Despite of all my Sunday learnin', toward the bad I kept turning.

There's been periods of broadcasts in the past where you could see all ages of entertainers, ranging from George Burns to Shirley Temple. That's not the condition now.

Sometimes if you get 'em too drunk they don't pay no attention to what you're doin' anyways, so you might as well just do old songs. But if you get one that's paying attention, sometimes we'll do some new material.

I'm just writin' about my little ol' love affair.

When you get to readin' about where the music and John Steinbeck and all those people like that come from, the further you go the more interesting it becomes.

Willie Nelson's the one who told me the reason it costs so much to get divorced is because it's worth it.

I wish coke was still cola and a joint was a bad place to be.

I enjoy the videos with the sound off, where you can look at the belly buttons and everything. Really some pretty girls, but I don't know about the music.

There's two or three kids out there trying to make good music, and the rest of them sound like it's been strained through some kind of white toast or something. It all sounds just too neat and perfect, with no surprise to it at all. No story, no nothing. It's like building cars, like an assembly line. It doesn't sound like anything that came from a guitar.