A biography for Tom Waitshasn’t been written yet.
“Oh, I got a beautiful 1959 Cadillac Coupe DeVille four-door. No one will ride in it with me.”
“Working hard, hardly working”
“הכלב לא ינשוך אותך אם תכה אותו עם עצם.”
“תרד מהצלב, אנחנו יכולים להשתמש בעץ.”
“אין לי בעיות שתייה, חוץ מהפעמים בהן אני לא יכול לשתות.”
“קציצת העגל שלך קמה מהצלחת, צועדת לקצה הדלפק ומכסחת את כוס הקפה שלי. אני מניח שהקפה פשוט לא היה מספיק חזק כדי להגן על עצמו.”
“אין דבר כזה שטן, רק אלוהים כשהוא שיכור.”
“שאיפות זה רק עבור חברי פרלמנט ופרופסורים. פעם היו לי שאיפות, אבל מנתח בבאפלו הסיר לי אותן.”
“אנשים אומרים עליי שאין לי להיטים ושקשה לעבוד איתי, כאילו יש בזה משהו שלילי.”
“Don't look back, because someone might be gaining on you.”
“For a songwriter, you don't really go to songwriting school; you learn by listening to tunes. And you try to understand them and take them apart and see what they're made of, and wonder if you can make one, too.”
“The piano has been drinking, not me.”
“I always liked the idea that America is a big facade. We are all insects crawling across on the shiny hood of a Cadillac. We're all looking at the wrapping. But we won't tear the wrapping to see what lies beneath.”
“I'm so horny the crack of dawn better watch out.”
“Any place is good for eavesdropping, if you know how to eavesdrop.”
“The world is a hellish place, and bad writing is destroying the quality of our suffering.”
“I didn't really want to be part of a clique or a niche. But I also was looking for my own voice, as a writer, y'know? And a world I could call my own.”
“You almost have to create situations in order to write about them, so I live in a constant state of self-imposed poverty. I don't want to live any other way.”
“And I remember quiet evenings trembling close to you...”
“If people are a little nervous about approaching you at the market, it's good. I'm not Chuckles The Clown. Or Bozo. I don't cut the ribbon at the opening of markets. I don't stand next to the mayor. Hit your baseball into my yard, and you'll never see it again.”