Tom Petty Quotes

When you kill somebody's little sister with a missile, he's going to hate you forever. And the next generation will hate you even more.

He don't wanna change, what don't need to change.

You believe what you want to believe. You see, you don't have to live like a refugee.

If you stretch your imagination, I'll tell you all a tale, about a time when everything wasn't up for sale.

A rebel without a clue.

I would never put my songs in a commercial.

George Harrison was the kind of guy who wasn’t going to leave until he hugged you for five minutes and told you how much he loved you.

Even the losers get lucky sometimes!

You're dealing in magic-it's this intangible thing that has to happen. And to seek it out too much might not be a good idea. Because, you know, it's very shy, too. But once you've got the essence of them, you can work songs and improve them. You see if there's a better word, or a better change.

You get in there, you get the job done and you get the hell out.

There goes your freedom of choice, there goes the last human voice.

That's stupid. You couldn't pay me to go. I'm not oversimplifying it. That's what's going on. I don't think it would be any fun without the drugs. It's a drug party.

I remember things being more clearer, at one time things were more real.

I had the radio on, I was driving. Trees flew by, me and Del were singing, Little Runaway, I was flying.

It's always been great to be onstage. It's really effortless up there. It's not a lot of work.

If you don't run, you rust.

You get into your late fifties, people start falling like flies all around you. I don't take life for granted any more. I'm really glad to be here.

I'm always having fun. Playing is fun. Music is fun.

I'm tired of screwing up. I'm tired of being down. I'm tired of myself. I'm tired of bein' down.

I always tell my kids, "Find something that you love and within that you'll find some job that you can do and you'll always be happy. You'll go to a job that you want to go to."

Most things I worry about never happen anyway.

You believe what you want to believe

Gonna wind it up on my guitar. Gonna make that silver sing.

I want to be successful. Not just money. Just making a successful record and a successful show... I could feel successful without selling a million records.

I don't know, my music has always just come from where the wind blew me. Like where I'm at during a particular moment in time.

We haven't always been boy scouts, but we never lost sight of the music, Let me remind you that this ain't the end.

I'm not any happier anywhere than when I'm in the studio. I'm over the moon about it. It keeps me young, it keeps me feeling like I have some purpose.

There was no use pretending, no magic left to hear, all the music gave me was a craving for lite beer.

Take back your insurance, baby, nothing is guaranteed. Take back your acid rain, let your TV bleed.

If I'd had to work at Taco Bell I'd have still been out at night trying to play music.

I have never been comfortable being the front man.

I don't believe in censorship, but I do believe that an artist has to take some moral responsibility for what he or she is putting out there.

I've never had any idea that what I like would resonate with the audience, and I'm pleasantly surprised when it does.

At twilight time the smog makes a rainbow.

She grew up hard and she grew up fast, in the age of television.

And the days went by like paper in the wind. Everything changed, then changed again. It's hard to find a friend. It's hard to find a friend.

You need eagles wings to get over things that make no sense in this world.

In a world that keeps on pushing me around, I'm gonna stand my ground, and I won't back down.

The music has to be affordable. It's the common man that keeps it going, and if you price it out of his realm, it becomes a thing of the elite.

Lord, please watch over all these lost children born to chase the hurricane.

Some days are diamonds, some days are rocks. Some doors are opened, some roads are blocked. Sundowns are golden, then fade away. And if I never do nothing, I'll get you back someday.

The music business looks like, you know, innocent schoolboys compared to the TV business. They care about nothing but profit.

Time to move on, time to get going. What lies ahead I have no way of knowing. But under my feet, baby, grass is growing.

I think sometimes maybe you're going to connect with the audience more than others, but the journey is about getting all there is to get out of this group of people.

I like making money like anybody else, and I'm paid well, but I think there is a point at which you can out-price your audience or your base.