Quotes from James Taylor

Being on a boat that's moving through the water, it's so clear. Everything falls into place in terms of what's important and what's not.

To me, very much of what is artistic is people's very creative and inventive ways out of impossible situations.

Ireland, Italy and Brazil are the most musical places for me. They're extremely musical cultures and anything you pitch they basically catch.

I think that American music, for me, it's a synthesis of a lot of different things. But for me growing up in North Carolina, the stuff that I was listening to, the things that I was hearing, it was all about black music, about soul music.

I can take criticisms but not compliments.

Won't you look down upon me Jesus, you've got to help me make a stand. You just got to see me through another day.

People have used my songs and guitar style to teach guitar for a long time.

Don't be sad cause your sun is down, the night doesn't need your sorrow. Don't be sad cause the light is gone, just keep your mind on tomorrow.

Whenever I see your smiling face, I have to smile myself, because I love you, yes I do.

Einstein said that he never could understand it all, the planets spinning in space, the smile upon your face.

It's a real wrenching thing to go from being a private person to being a public person, especially when you're being autobiographical.

It's a real wrenching thing to go from being a private person to being a public person, especially when you're being autobiographical. But it's what everyone wants - to get everyone's attention, to have your music make a living for you, to be validated in that way.

Television news is now entertainment, and the stories are being written by the people that have a special interest in them.

I had a very moral upbringing, and spiritual in a sort of not very specific way.

To be a musician, especially a singer-songwriter - well, you don't do that if you have a thriving social life. You do it because there's an element of alienation in your life.

People should watch out for three things: avoid a major addiction, don't get so deeply into debt that it controls your life, and don't start a family before you're ready to settle down.

If you're an addict, it controls your life and your life becomes uncontrollable. It's boring and painful, filling your system with something that makes you stare at your shoes for six hours.

Performing is a profound experience, at least for me.

A concert is always like a feast day to me.

Music is like a huge release of tension.

One of my earliest memories was me singing 'Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin' at the top of my voice when I was seven. I got totally carried away. My grandmother, Sarah, was in the next room. I didn't even realise she was there. I was terribly embarrassed.

Certain things in life are more important than the usual crap that everyone strives for.

If the gig's going really well, I'm incredibly happy on stage and really feel good about my life and things.

Songs are like myths. Myths are useful because they allow you to cast yourself and your life and your own experience. And for some people, 'Fire and Rain' speaks to them in that way.