Quotes from Van Morrison

I never paid attention to what was contemporary or what was commercial, it didn't mean anything to me.

My thinking musically has always been more advanced - it is difficult to get it down onto paper sometimes, even now.

Peter Robinson

I put out records to this day that are not necessarily in a sequence of anything. Some could be written a while back, some not. There is no set pattern.

I write songs. Then, I record them. And, later, maybe I perform them on stage. That's what I do. That's my job. Simple.

Every performance is different. That's the beauty of it.

I educated myself. To me, school was boring.

Large audiences did not suit my low-key approach.

I was just getting tired of the image bullshit...that man of mystery trip and what have you. What's that all about?

A famous person to themselves, they don't get up in the morning and think, I'm famous. I'm not famous to me. Famous is a perception.

Music is spiritual. The music business is not.

I think Paul McGuinness and U2 created the Irish music industry. It certainly wasn't there before that.

When you hear the music ringin' in your soul And you feel it in your heart and it grows and grows And it comes from the backstreet rock & roll and the healing has begun...

Into the Music was about the first album where I felt, 'I'm starting here'...the Wavelength thing, I didn't really feel that was me.

Even today, skiffle is a defining part of my music. If I get the opportunity to just have a jam, skiffle is what I love to play.

Skiffle was a name that was attached to what was, in essence, American folk music with a beat.

The first piece of music that captured my imagination was probably Ray Charles Live At Newport.

The summer breeze was blowing on your face Within your violet you treasure your summery words And as the shiver from my neck down to my spine Ignited me in daylight and nature in the garden

No guru, no method, no teacher, just you and I and nature, and the father in the garden.

I had my eyes closed in the dark, I sighed a million sighs, I told a million lies, to myself, to myself.

Love of the simple is all that I need, I've no time for schism or lovers of greed.

I'm a dweller of the threshold and I'm waiting at the door, and I'm standing in the darkness, I don't want to wait no more.

Let me purify my thoughts and words and deeds that I may be a vehicle for thee.

Become enraptured by the sights and sounds in intrigue of nature and beauty, come along with me and take it all in. Come here my love.