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Jimmy Buffett Quotes

James William Buffett is an American singer, songwriter, musician, author, actor, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett has recorded hit songs including "Margaritaville" and "Come Monday". He has a devoted base of fans known as "Parrotheads".

Aside from his career in music, Buffett is also a best-selling writer and is involved in two restaurant chains named after two of his best-known songs; he owns the Margaritaville Cafe restaurant chain and co-developed the Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chain. Wikipedia  

✵ 25. December 1946  •  Other names ג'ימי באפט, Τζίμι Μπάφετ, 吉米·巴菲特
Jimmy Buffett photo

Works

A Pirate Looks at Fifty
A Salty Piece of Land
Jimmy Buffett: 58 quotes5 likes

Famous Jimmy Buffett Quotes

“Some of it's magic and some of it's tragic but I had a good life all the way.”

Jimmy Buffett

Variant: Some of its magic, some its tragic, but I've had a good life along the
way.

“Yes, I am a pirate two hundred years too late.”

Jimmy Buffett

“Oh, yesterdays are over my shoulder,
So I can't look back for too long.
There's just too much to see waiting in front of me,
and I know that I just can't go wrong.”

Jimmy Buffett

“I'm growing older but not up.
My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck.
Let those winds of time blow over my head.
I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead.”

Jimmy Buffett

Growing Older But Not Up
Song lyrics, Coconut Telegraph (1981)

“If we weren't all crazy, we would go insane.”

Jimmy Buffett

Variant: If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane.

Jimmy Buffett Quotes about life

“Searching is half the fun: life is much more manageable when thought of as a scavenger hunt as opposed to a surprise party.”

Jimmy Buffett

Variant: Life is more manageable when thought of as a scavenger hunt as opposed to a surprise party.

“Maybe there is another who sees life not as a flickering candle but as a torch that can illuminate an undiscovered world.”

Jimmy Buffett book A Salty Piece of Land

Source: A Salty Piece of Land

“later down the road of life, i made the discovery that salt water was also good for the mental abrasions one inevitably acquires on land.”

Jimmy Buffett book A Pirate Looks at Fifty

Source: A Pirate Looks at Fifty

“If life gives you limes make margaritas.”

Jimmy Buffett

“Shells sink, dreams float. Life's good on our boat.”

Jimmy Buffett

Jimmy Buffett Quotes about time

“Enduring echoes call out from his past.
Time ain't for saving, no time's not for that.
Chasing false echoes like a lost legionnaire,
He waltzes on memories while he fades like a flare.”

Jimmy Buffett

False Echoes
Song lyrics, Banana Wind (1996)

“I used to rule my world from a pay phone
And ships out on the sea.
But now times are rough
And I got too much stuff;
Can't explain the likes of me.But there's this one particular harbour,
So far but yet so near.
Where I see the days as they fade away,
And finally disappear.”

Jimmy Buffett

One Particular Harbour, written with Bobby Holcomb
Song lyrics, One Particular Harbour (1983)

Jimmy Buffett: Trending quotes

“Breathe in, breathe out, move on…”

Jimmy Buffett

“I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead.”

Jimmy Buffett

“Wrinkles will only go where the smiles have been.”

Jimmy Buffett

Jimmy Buffett Quotes

“It's a fine line between Saturday night and Sunday morning.”

Jimmy Buffett

“One of the inescapable encumbrances of leading an interesting life is that there have to be moments when you almost lose it.”

Jimmy Buffett book A Pirate Looks at Fifty

Source: A Pirate Looks at Fifty

“Indecision may or may not be my problem.”

Jimmy Buffett

“I'm growing older, but not up.”

Jimmy Buffett

“If the phone doesn't ring, it's me.”

Jimmy Buffett

“Pack your bags, we're going on a guilt trip!”

Jimmy Buffett

“Mother Mother Ocean, I have heard your call.”

Jimmy Buffett

“We are the people our parents warned us about.”

Jimmy Buffett

“We need more fruitcakes in this world, and less bakers!”

Jimmy Buffett

“There will always be those who feel more comfortable not venturing from the warmth of the hearth, but there are those who prefer to look out the window and wonder what is beyond the horizon.”

Jimmy Buffett book A Salty Piece of Land

Source: A Salty Piece of Land

“The weather is here Wish you were beautiful.”

Jimmy Buffett

“I went down to Captain Tony's to get out of the heat
When I heard a voice call out to me, "Son, come have a seat."
I had to search my memory as I looked into those eyes;
Our lives change like the weather but a legend never dies”

Jimmy Buffett

Last Mango in Paris
Song lyrics, Last Mango in Paris (1985)

“As a dreamer of dreams and a travelin' man,
I have chalked up many a mile.
Read dozens of books about heroes and crooks,
And I've learned much from both of their styles.”

Jimmy Buffett

Son of a Son of a Sailor
Song lyrics, Son of a Son of a Sailor (1978)

“I blew out my flip flop,
Stepped on a pop top,
Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home.
But there's booze in the blender,
And soon it will render
That frozen concoction that helps me hang on.”

Jimmy Buffett

Margaritaville
Song lyrics, Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes (1977)

“To me it was more about eight years of bad policy before (Obama) got there that let this happen. It was Dracula running the blood bank in terms of oil and leases. I think that has more to do with it than how the president reacted to it.”

Jimmy Buffett

Jimmy Buffett Organizes Gulf Benefit, Blames Bush for Spill, foxnews.com, July 6, 2010, January 6, 2011 http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/07/06/jimmy-buffet-organizes-gulf-benefit-blames-bush-spill/#ixzz1AHyM5yHe,

“Now, I don't know,
I don't know where I'm a gonna go
When the volcano blow.”

Jimmy Buffett

Volcano, written with Keith Sykes and Harry Dailey
Song lyrics, Volcano (1979)

“Wasted away again in Margaritaville,
Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt.
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame,
But I know it's nobody's fault.”

Jimmy Buffett

Margaritaville
Song lyrics, Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes (1977)

“These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes,
Nothing remains quite the same.
Through all of the islands and all of the highlands,
If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane.”

Jimmy Buffett

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes
Song lyrics, Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes (1977)

“Come Monday, it'll be all right.
Come Monday, I'll be holding you tight.
I spent four lonely days in a brown L. A. haze
And I just want you back by my side.”

Jimmy Buffett

Come Monday
Song lyrics, Living & Dying in 3/4 Time (1974)

“Can't you feel 'em circlin' honey?
Can't you feel 'em swimmin' around?
You got fins to the left, fins to the right,
And you're the only bait in town.
You got fins to the left, fins to the right,
And you're the only girl in town.”

Jimmy Buffett

Fins, written with Deborah McColl, Barry Chance, and Tom Corcoran
Song lyrics, Volcano (1979)

“Now he lives in the islands, fishes the pilin's
And drinks his green label each day,
He's writing his memoirs and losing his hearing,
But he don't care what most people say.
Through eighty-six years of perpetual motion,
If he likes you he'll smile then he'll say,
Jimmy, some of it's magic, some of it's tragic,
But I had a good life all the way.”

Jimmy Buffett

He Went to Paris
Song lyrics, A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (1973)

“As the son of a son of a sailor,
I went out on the sea for adventure.
Expanding the view of the captain and crew
Like a man just released from indenture.”

Jimmy Buffett

Son of a Son of a Sailor
Song lyrics, Son of a Son of a Sailor (1978)

“He went to Paris, looking for answers
To questions that bothered him so.
He was impressive, young and aggressive,
Saving the world on his own.
But the warm Summer breezes,
The French wines and cheeses
Put his ambition at bay.
And Summers and Winters
Scattered like splinters,
And four or five years slipped away.”

Jimmy Buffett

He Went to Paris
Song lyrics, A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (1973)

“I never used to miss the chance to climb up on his knee
And listen to the many tales of life upon the sea.
We'd go sailing back on Barkentines we'd talk of things he did
Tomorrow just a day away, for the Captain and the kid.”

Jimmy Buffett

The Captain and the Kid
Song lyrics, Down to Earth (1970)

“The Great Filling Station Holdup”

Jimmy Buffett

Song lyrics, A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (1973)

“Boat drinks.
Waitress, I need two more boat drinks.
Then I'm headin south 'fore my dream shrinks.
I gotta go where it's warm.”

Jimmy Buffett

Boat Drinks
Song lyrics, Volcano (1979)

“Son of a son, son of a son, son of a son of a sailor.
Son of a gun; load the last ton,
One step ahead of the jailer.”

Jimmy Buffett

Son of a Son of a Sailor
Song lyrics, Son of a Son of a Sailor (1978)

“Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call.
Wanted to sail upon your waters
Since I was three feet tall.
You've seen it all, you've seen it all.Watched the men who rode you,
Switch from sails to steam.
And in your belly you hold the treasure
That few have ever seen.
Most of them dreams,
Most of them dreams.”

Jimmy Buffett

A Pirate Looks at Forty
Song lyrics, A1A (1974)

“I really do appreciate the fact you're sittin' here.
Your voice sounds so wonderful,
But your face don't look too clear.
So, Barmaid, bring a pitcher, another round of brew.
Honey, why don't we get drunk and screw.”

Jimmy Buffett

Why Don't We Get Drunk (and Screw)
Song lyrics, A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (1973)

“We're gypsies in the palace, he's left us here alone.
The order of the Sleepless Knights will now assume the throne.
We ain't got no money, we ain't got no right,
But we're gypsies in the palace, we got it all tonight.”

Jimmy Buffett

Gypsies in the Palace, written with Glenn Frey and Will Jennings
Song lyrics, Last Mango in Paris (1985)

“Mother, mother ocean, after all these years I've found
My occupational hazard being my occupations just not around.
I feel like I've drowned,
Gonna head uptown.”

Jimmy Buffett

A Pirate Looks at Forty
Song lyrics, A1A (1974)

“I wish I had a pencil-thin mustache,
the "Boston Blackie" kind.
Or a two-toned Ricky Ricardo jacket,
And an autographed picture of Andy Divine.”

Jimmy Buffett

Pencil Thin Mustache
Song lyrics, Living & Dying in 3/4 Time (1974)

“We’ve gotta roll with the punches
Learn to play all of our hunches.
Makin’ the best of whatever comes your way.
Forget that blind ambition
And learn to trust your intuition.
Plowin’ straight ahead come what may.”

Jimmy Buffett

Cowboy in the Jungle
Song lyrics, Son of a Son of a Sailor (1978)

“Cheeseburger is paradise.
Heaven on earth with an onion slice.
Not too particular, not too precise.
I'm just a cheeseburger in paradise.I like mine with lettuce and tomato,
Heinz Fifty-seven and French fried potatoes.
Big kosher pickle and a cold draft beer.
Well, good God Almighty, which way do I steer?
For my cheeseburger in paradise.”

Jimmy Buffett

Cheeseburger in Paradise
Song lyrics, Son of a Son of a Sailor (1978)

“And now I wish I was somewhere other than here,
Down in some honky tonk, sippin' on a beer.
Yes, I wish I was somewhere other than here.
'Cause that great fillin' station holdup
Cost me two good years.”

Jimmy Buffett

Song lyrics, A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (1973)

“Please don't say mañana if you don't mean it
I have heard those words for so very long.
Don't try to describe the ocean if you've never seen it.
Don't ever forget that you just may wind up being wrong.”

Jimmy Buffett

Mañana
Song lyrics, Son of a Son of a Sailor (1978)

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