The Best Jimmy Stewart quotes

I need a long and lingering death to make sure that I have time to have a deathbed conversion. — John Mellencamp

One time they traded me for seven horses. Seven stunt horses. — James Stewart

Unemployment is sky–rocketing; deflation is in our future for the first time since the Great Depression. I don’t care whose fault it is, it’s the truth. — John Mellencamp

I’d like to do Harvey again. I did it two years ago with Helen Hayes in New York. It was a joy. I was so glad to do it again because I never thought I did it right the first time. — James Stewart

A lot of the time, I write in the third person, but I’m mostly describing my own ordeals. When those unsettled struggles prey on your mind, you become haunted. To get free, you must defeat your ghosts. — John Mellencamp

The great thing about the movies … is–you’re giving people little … tiny pieces of time … that they never forget. — James Stewart

Hanging out is a waste of time. The only time I would hang out was when I was a kid, I would hang out in the streets. But once I started making records, I stopped hanging out. — John Mellencamp

After age 70, it’s patch, patch, patch. — James Stewart

My best songs come from a place outside myself. — John Mellencamp

This is not a rock opera. This is not Tommy. I can write songs that emote, and that’s it. — John Mellencamp

I want to sell to people my own age, because that’s the way I write songs. — John Mellencamp

American folk songs were about tragedy, right? They were about suffering and tragedy, and a lot of my songs are about that, even though they were misunderstood. — John Mellencamp

I’m the guy who wrote The Authority Song. Did they think I was kidding? Did they think it was only a song to entertain? — John Mellencamp

Crumbling’ Down’ is a very political song that I wrote with my childhood friend George Green. Reagan was president–he was deregulating everything, and the walls were crumbling down on the poor. — John Mellencamp

A lot of Woody Guthrie’s songs were taken from other songs. He would rework the melody and lyrics, and all of a sudden it was a Woody Guthrie song. — John Mellencamp

I don’t have to worry about any pop sensibility. I can write adult songs, and I don’t have to worry about choruses and hook lines. — John Mellencamp

In so many musicals today, the story is moved forward by a song. I don’t think we’re gonna try to do that. — John Mellencamp

As I get older, I have a different look on life. I just try to be a little more tolerant and a little bit more centered about what’s going on around me and not so emotional. — John Mellencamp

Everything I see and hear… I will take ideas from anyplace, anywhere, anytime, and life has become a song to me. I’m always looking for a song. — John Mellencamp

The problem of evil is raised more often by spectators of life than the actual combatants. You will hardly ever find that the great sufferers are the great skeptics. — James Stewart

Regret should be handled swiftly, and you shouldn’t hold onto it. People spend their entire lives regretting what they didn’t do and what they should’ve done. Hey, man, you did what you did. — John Mellencamp

Life should never be viewed from the vantage point of achievements. It is total folly. — John Mellencamp

The secret to a happy life is to accept change gracefully. — Jimmy Stewart

It’s well done if you can do a part and not have the acting show. — James Stewart

When did Jimmy Stewart not play Jimmy Stewart? When did John Wayne not play John Wayne? But that’s what we like about them. When you talk about acting, you really have to respond to somebody’s personality. — John Mellencamp

Well, I think one of the main things that you have to think about when acting in the movies is to try not to make the acting show. — James Stewart

I always stayed for the first curtain call and people always said, ‘Who’s that?’ But this got me started in acting. — James Stewart

What is there to be afraid of? The worst thing that can happen is you fail. So what? I failed at a lot of things. My first record was horrible. — John Mellencamp

I think it’s ridiculous to try to sell records to teenagers, because teenagers don’t buy my records. And there ain’t that many teenagers out there in the marketplace. — John Mellencamp

I couldn’t have recorded this record 15 years ago. My voice didn’t have the depth to pull these songs off. — John Mellencamp

I’ve just been fortunate to havehad a lot of hit records, though Human Wheels doesn’t qualify as a hit record–but it’s really the best single I’ve ever had. — John Mellencamp

My task with ‘Uh–Huh’ was to make a more even record and get away from juvenile topics like ‘Hurts So Good.’ But I also knew if I wanted to continue, I had to have more hits. — John Mellencamp

I went to New York in 1974, to either try to get a record deal, get into the New York Art Student League, or be a dancer. So that was my plan. Some plan. And I had no money. — John Mellencamp

If fans are going to turn on me because of this, they weren’t my fans anyway. I couldn’t betray a whole 25 years of record making and not do this. I had to. — John Mellencamp

Bob Dylan’s first couple of records in the 60’s weren’t considered cover records, but he only wrote one or two original songs on each album. — John Mellencamp