Neil Diamond

“I definitely don't feel like I'm 71. I feel like I did when I was - between 30 and 40. The body ages. The mind doesn't.”

“I may have a little bit of a talent for music, but I've learnt to tap into my own self when I write. When I put the drill bit inside my heart, sometimes I come up with something light and frothy, sometimes with something deep and painful, but it's great to connect with the audience.”

“I've always thought of music as something which gives the words their flight and their wings and the music often comes first, although sometimes I'll have a concept, a title idea, a lyric idea that I want to write and the lyric will come first.”

“When you're on a merry-go-round, you miss a lot of the scenery.”

“If it can affect me, if it has meaning to me, if I feel I can do it well, I will do it and record it and thats why I recorded these songs.”

“I'm throwing myself back in because I like being married. I don't want to end this whole fabulous journey alone. I want someone by my side who I love and who loves me. I've finally found somebody who's up to the task of being my wife, because I'm very high maintenance.”

“Performing is the easiest part of what I do, and songwriting is the hardest.”

“The cardinal rule for any performer is that they should know themselves before they enter the spotlight, and I didn't. I was just Neil and I did what I was supposed to do. I was supposed to get married, so I got married. I was supposed to get a job, so I looked for work.”

“No, I majored in biology, in a pre-med program.”

“I came back to performing with a different attitude about performing and myself. I wasn't expecting perfection any more, just hoping for an occasional inspiration.”

“I don't feel I have to write deep and meaningful songs; they can be light and meaningless. It has to do with the place I am in my life, a really good place.”

“It's very difficult for me to say 'I love you' but to sing 'I love you' for me is easier.”

“There's a mystery to writing, and you don't really know where most of it comes from.”

“Brooklyn is not the easiest place to grow up in, although I wouldn't change that experience for anything.”

“I used to go to my kids' soccer games and I was the only parent who wasn't screaming, because I'd have to do a show that night. It was hard. Moms and dads get more emotional at those soccer and Little League games than at a professional game.”

“Because my musical training has been limited, I've never been restricted by what technical musicians might call a song.”

“I didn't want to repeat my mistakes so I stopped, took some time out and started having therapy. My songs were bringing up feelings inside of me I didn't really understand, so I wanted to understand where they were coming from to help me be a better person and a better songwriter.”

“I like having a woman. I like having someone to come home to, to make all of the hard work feel worth it. I need someone with me. And I want someone.”

“Songs are life in 80 words or less.”

“I am," I saidTo no one thereAn no one heard at allNot even the chair"I am," I cried"I am," said IAnd I am lost, and I can't even say whyLeavin' me lonely still”