Simon Cowell

“I've never bought a Dylan record. A singing poet? It just bores me to tears. I've got to tell you, if I had 10 Dylans in the final of 'American Idol,' we would not be getting 30 million viewers a week. I don't believe the Bob Dylans of this world would make 'American Idol 'a better show.”

“If I go into a relationship with an artist, which at most is going to last five years, we have a 100-page contract covering every eventuality. Whereas with marriage you go into it with no contract, with laws that date back hundreds of years, and I don't think that's right.”

“You know what the secret to weight loss is? Don't eat much.”

“In TV, film, and music there's a lot of snobbery, and I don't like it. I've never been a cultural snob.”

“Would I like kids? If I knew I could be - and how could I put this delicately - faithful, then yes. I do like kids.”

“I suggest we bring some normality back to this country and say if you are carrying a knife, there must be zero tolerance. If it was up to me, everyone caught with a knife would get an automatic ten year sentence.”

“No one really has any job security anymore, including myself.”

“There was nothing I could - and wanted to - learn in school. It was just a complete waste of my time.”

“When I think of invention, I always think of America. You're always seeing ads: 'Have you got the next big idea?' There seems to be that spirit in America of inventions and inventors.”

“You don't go into anything contemplating failure, because if you did, you wouldn't make it.”

“I love producing shows. And so when you're on a show where other people are making decisions you don't necessarily agree with it, after a while you start to feel like a passenger.”

“If your lifeguard duties were as good as your singing, a lot of people would be drowning.”

“I think you have to judge everything based on your personal taste. And if that means being critical, so be it. I hate political correctness. I absolutely loathe it.”

“When I look at it now, the whole punk thing is sort of comedy in a weird way.”

“I have total respect for anyone who discovers a band like Snow Patrol. I would be hopeless at signing a rock band, or anything alternative, cause I don't know what that audience are into and I don't particularly like that kind of music.”

“I have always hated celebrities lecturing people on politics. So forgive me. But I am passionate about this country. I am equally passionate about the potential of the people who live here.”

“I don't like kids that are pushed into things by stage mums, but when I can see they are having a good time, they're excited and enjoying the process, then I think it's wrong to discriminate.”

“If I said to most of the people who auditioned, 'Good job, awesome, well done,' it would have made me actually look and feel ridiculous. It's quite obvious most of the people who turned up for this audition were hopeless.”

“People confuse ego, lust, insecurity with true love.”

“If we had to choose one American Idol to go out to dinner with, it would be Fantasia. There are no airs and graces about her... I like her.”