Best 14 quotes of Robert Hilburn on MyQuotes

At times, Singer Johnny Cash rubbed dirt from the earth under his fingernails in order to avoid any arrogance which might stem from his fame, by reminding himself of his roots and origins.

Country music is full of affairs and cheating; that's where all those Hank Williams songs come from.

He [Johnny Cash] always wanted to use his music to lift other people up, to say no matter how much trouble, there's hope. That was always his message in his songs. That's why he and [Bob] Dylan bonded so much, because they were both trying to do something meaningful.

I haven't felt the excitement for so many years. I feel guilty beyond words about these things. When we're back-stage and the lights go out, and the manic roar of the crowd begins, it does not affect me. The fact is, I can't fool you. It isn't fair to you or to me. The worst crime I can think of is to trick people by faking it, and pretending to be having 100% fun.

I learned how difficult it is to be an artist. There are always compromises. The record company wants you to do this, your fans want you to do this, your family, you can't concentrate on your work. It's a hard thing to be an artist and not give up. That's why I have so much respect for people like Dylan and Neil Young and Tom Waits, because they keep at it. I have a new respect for a true artist.

I think it is hard to find happiness, as a whole, in anything. The days of tender youth are gone. I think you can be delirious in your youth, but as you get older, things happen.

I thought I pretty much knew Johnny Cash's life. But one of my personal discoveries was how little we know about any of these people.

It's important to realize that everybody who went into country music, and most everybody who went into rock and roll in the '50s, they had no more goal than a hit on the jukebox. Johnny Cash from the very beginning had a goal that he wanted to make music that lifted people's spirits.

Me growing up in the '60s and '70s, there was almost something romantic about drugs, Keith Richards taking drugs and stuff.

There was a lot of sorrow in [Johnny] Cash's life. Even while he's trying to make music to inspire people he's fighting day after day with his own demons and sorrows.

HE HAS EARNED PLENTY OF GRAVITAS OVER THE YEARS, BUT HE SEEMS TOO RESTLESS TO SPEND IT, EMBARKING INSTEAD ON A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS IN RHYTHM AND TEXTURE, AND HONING IN HIS LYRICS A SHRUGGING ACCEPTANCE OF AN IMPERFECT WORLD

I THINK THE PSYCHE COMES UP WITH ALL KINDS OF CONTRIVANCES TO PROTECT WHAT IT THINKS IS VULNERABLE. AND SOMETIMES THOSE CONTRIVANCES ARE THAT YOU STAY IN A STATE OF UNHAPPINESS. OR VICTIMIZATION.

PAUL IS AN INTELLECTUAL OMNIVORE. HE IS INTERESTED IN OR IS CAPABLE OF BEING INTERESTED IN ALMOST ANYTHING. HE IS ALWAYS UP FOR A SERIOUS CONVERSATION AND ALWAYS EAGER TO LEARN ABOUT ALMOST ANYTHING.

PAUSING BRIEFLY, SIMON, WHO TOLD AN INTERVIEWER IN THE 1980S THAT HE FOUND IT HARD TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE GOOD TIMES IN HIS LIFE, SHOWED NO RELUCTANCE ADDING, "I'M GRATEFUL FOR MY LIFE.