Keith Richards citations

“When you are growing up there are two institutional places that affect you most powerfully: the church, which belongs to God, and the public library, which belongs to you.”

“Everyone talks about rock these days; the problem is they forget about the roll.”

“We age not by holding on to youth, but by letting ourselves grow and embracing whatever youthful parts remain.”

“You can't always get what you want, but if you really need something, you usually find it.”

“I don't regret nuthin…”

“If you're going to kick authority in the teeth, you might as well use two feet.”

“Music is a language that doesn’t speak in particular words. It speaks in emotions, and if it’s in the bones, it’s in the bones.”

“I've never had inner turmoil about all this. You find a lot of people these days who cannot stand to be alone. You could lock me up in solitary for weeks on end, and I'd keep myself amused.”

“Why would you want to be anything else if you're Mick Jagger?”

“The rock's easy, but the roll is another thing…”

“I don't have a problem with drugs, I have a problem with policemen.”

“It's really good to be here and as I always say, it's really good to be anywhere!”

“But I'm not here just to make records and money. I'm here to say something and to touch other people, sometimes in a cry of desperation: "Do you know this feeling?”

“I'm all for a quiet life. I just didn't get one.”

“Preaching is tax free. Very little to do with God, a lot to do with money”

“True friends. Hardest thing to find, but you never look for them - they found you; you just grow into each other”

“Some people think I'm a mythical genius, others think I'm a junkie madman.”

“There are certain guys that are band players and there's certain guys that ain't. If there's anybody lazier than me, it's Eric (Clapton).”

“This morning on Dartford station a guy I knew at primary school came up to me. He's got every record Chuck Berry made. He is called Mick Jagger.”

“The idea of retiring is like killing yourself. It's almost like Hari Kari. I intend to live to a 100 and go down in history.”

“Rap — so many words, so little said. What rap did that was impressive was to show there are so many tone-deaf people out there. All they need is a drum beat and somebody yelling over it and they're happy. There’s an enormous market for people who can't tell one note from another.”

“I was number one on the Who's Likely To Die list for 10 years. I mean, I was really disappointed when I fell off the list.”

“I don't encourage anybody to do what I do, you know? Why should you? More for me!”

“What interested me about Chuck Berry was the way he could step out of the rhythm part with such ease, throwing in a nice, simple riff, and then drop straight into the feel of it again. We used to play a lot more rhythm stuff. We'd do away with the differences between lead and rhythm guitar. You can't go into a shop and ask for a "lead guitar."”

“I thought rock and roll was an unassailable outlet for some pure and natural expression of rebellion. It used to be one channel you could take without ever havin' to kiss arse, you know?”

“I looked upon myself, in a sort of romantic and silly way, as like a laboratory.”

“I'd play whenever I could get my hands on an electric guitar; I was trying to pick up rock'n'roll riffs and electric blues-the latest Muddy Waters. I'd spend hours and hours on the same track, back again, and back again.”

“I've never had my hair cut by anybody, I do it all myself”

“People say: «Why don't you give it up?» I don't think they quite understand. I'm not doing it just for the money, or for you. I'm doing it for me. ”