Quotes from John Prine

I thought I was grounded. I thought from my kinda blue-collar outlook on life that I would call myself a grounded person. I was not. I was like a balloon flying around in the air. And as soon as our first child was born, boom - my feet came right down to the ground.

I can't really sit around and talk with people who believe that the Bible is the way it happened, because that's man-made. I'm a writer, too; that's how I look at the Bible. Like, 'I could've written a better version than that,' you know? At least a more interesting one, and then maybe more people would go to church. I could definitely do a revamp.

I was a mailman walking in the snow six days a week, 12-hour days. Every two weeks, I'd get a check for $228.

The only reason I figured out I didn't like my old records to listen was I could hear how nervous I was and how uncomfortable I was. And who would want to sit around and listen to yourself being uncomfortable?

I embraced loneliness as a kid. I know what loneliness is. When you're at the end of your rope. I never forget those feelings.

Man, I hated school. I'd stare at the buttons on the teacher's shirt the whole class.

My first Grammy nomination? I was 24 - I was nominated for best new artist of the year.

To tell you the truth, the nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame totally surprised me. I had no idea that was coming. I know a lot of people like to say it's enough just to be nominated. But I've been nominated for so many things, I'd like to get this one. I think it's a long shot, considering I never had a No. 1 rock n' roll record.

After a couple bouts with cancer and everything, black cats are nothin', you know?

Kris Kristofferson and Steve Goodman were the two most unselfish people I ever met.

How the hell can a person go to work in the morning And come home in the evening and have nothing to say

If some part of the review is true, those are the ones that sting.

'Sam Stone' is a song about futility.

Never wear your necktie while you're operating a lathe.

Because of my song 'Sam Stone,' a lot of people thought I was interested in writing protest songs. Writing protest songs always struck me as patting yourself on the back.

I hate to admit it to my wife, but I only wear two outfits on the road, and then a third one during the day, but I carry about 20.

I was in the Army in the 1960s. I didn't go to Vietnam. I went to Germany, where I drank beer. But I did have an empathy with the soldiers in Vietnam.

In the Army, I was very good at avoiding my job!

I think I've finally, after 72 years, gotten used to my voice, and it sounds like a friend now instead of an enemy.

When I was a mailman, writing songs was my escape from the regular world, and now writing songs is my job. And I've always been one to avoid my job.

I have to have something that really excites me in order to write about it.

If somebody tells me to work or exercise, I go the other way. I'll come up with an excuse.

I found it easier to make up songs than to learn other people's songs.