19 James Taylor Quotes That Are as True Now as They Were Then

James Taylor, born on March 12, 1948 is a renowned American singer songwriter, as well as a guitarist. He’s an acclaimed six-time Grammy Award winner, and was eventually inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. James Taylor had his big strike with success in 1970 with his number three ranked single, Fire and Rain. Now, get this. Every album that Taylor has released from 1977 on into 2007 ended up selling over 1 million copies. That’s nothing short of a herculean feat. We’re going to take a look at some of James Taylor’s most famous quotes to pay homage to his career.

1. On a musician’s duty

“I believe musicians have a duty, a responsibility to reach out, to share your love or pain with others.”

2. On the turning point

“If I were to try to identify a turning point I’d say that was it – getting clean.”

3. On the beauty of being on a boat

“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.” And that right there might be one of our favorite James Taylor quotes.

4. On what time takes

“Time will take your money, but money won’t buy time.”

5. On what to watch out for

“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.”

6. On baldness

“Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to have made a lot of difference to my audience that I’m as bald as a billiard ball.”

7. On trusting the creative process

“I don’t read music. I don’t write it. So I wander around on the guitar until something starts to present itself.”

8. On criticism

“I can take criticisms but not compliments.” And that right there is a brief, yet wise James Taylor quote that isn’t easily forgotten.

9. On instability

“I’m very unstable; there’s no stability in a musician’s life at all. You live on a bus or on the road hand to mouth and you don’t know where your money’s coming from.”

10. On making music

“It is the most delightful thing that ever happens to me, when I hear something coming out of my guitar and out of my mouth that wasn’t there before.”

11. On what music can accomplish

“Music is like a huge release of tension.”

12. On a part of the writing phase

“There’ll come a writing phase where you have to defend the time, unplug the phone and put in the hours to get it done.”

13. On self love

“You have to choose whether to love yourself or not.”

14. On losing control

“Things started to get out of control when I began reading that I was a superstar.”

15. On surprising longevity

“I think it surprises a lot of people that I’m still around, you know, still – that I’m not pushing up daisies, as they say.”

16. On the love of the audience

“I know there are people who don’t like their audience or like the experience of being recognized or celebrated, but my audience has been very good – they don’t bother me and when they do contact me it’s usually on the nicest possible terms.”

17. On retiring from publicity

“I’m looking forward to being able to retire from being a public figure and being able to afford to be myself.”

18. On cleaning up

“When I cleaned up some 17 odd years ago, I felt terrible for about six months. The only thing that gave me any real relief was strenuous physical activity.”

19. On the motivation of an artist

“That’s the motivation of an artist – to seek attention of some kind.”