Paul Simon Quotes

There's things that I say that people wouldn't say. And just putting across my vulnerability as a person in my music as well. A lot of people wouldn't do that, everyone wants to be hard.

I think sexy is vulnerability, and there's no way you can act vulnerable. It just has to be there.

It is hard for me to be vulnerable, because I never learned how to do that. I was never vulnerable in a safe way.

Songwriting is the most terrifying thing to me, because you are really laying your heart out there.

The hardest thing for - not only an artist but for anybody to do is look themselves in the mirror and acknowledge, you know, their own flaws and fears and imperfections and put them out there in the open for people to relate to it.

There is great strength in vulnerability, as it takes courage to push through the fear and share one's true self with others. In music, that vulnerability really speaks to listeners as it connects with their own hearts.

Being vulnerable is the hardest thing for so many people, including myself, but it's also the most satisfying thing.

Being vulnerable was difficult for me at first because I've said things in my songs about how I felt that I never told anybody.

It's only when I'm on stage that I really come to terms with the fact that other people are hearing my most inner, darkest thoughts.

I think it's sort of rare in TV shows or movies to see people being vulnerable. That's sort of scary to an audience.

Having grown up so familiar with creating a pleasing facade, I now end up compelled to reveal things inside and say, 'Okay, now you really see me. Do you still love me?' And then it's never enough; it always has to be total self-revelation.

I want to be a man who is truthful and who won't let pride get in the way of my ripping myself open to my partner and saying, 'Here I am. This is me.' I feel there's something powerful when a man reaches a point in his life when he can be completely vulnerable.

One of the things I did when I discovered this huge importance of being vulnerable is very happily moved away from the shame research, because that's such a downer, and people hate that topic. It's not that vulnerability is the upside, but it's better than shame, I guess.

I've been the type of guy, I've always been very forthcoming with how I feel. And that it doesn't make you less of a man to like go and be like, 'This is how I feel about you. This is the truth.'

It's a great big step for me to open my heart up even a little bit.

Wear your heart on your skin in this life.

Everything I write is highly personal, but put in such a way that it's not dropping everything in someone's lap. Although sometimes I think 'The Taxi Ride' embarrasses me, because sometimes I think it's too close.

The difficult thing is that vulnerability is the first thing I look for in you and the last thing I'm willing to show you. In you, it's courage and daring. In me, it's weakness.

I've learned that to expose yourself, to reveal yourself is a test of your humanness.

The most vulnerable people have tough exteriors because they are very scared inside, and it's very hard for people like that - people like me - to open up. But playing it safe means you stop being open to learning. I always try to find the challenges.

I think all jocks have a sensitive side. It's just, will they show it to anybody? Will they let their guard down and stop being tough and the cool jock guy around their friends, or just relax? I don't know if it's best to say opening up, but just relax and really say what you're actually thinking, and not what you think people want to hear.

Writing is a very intimate thing, especially when you write lyrics and sing them in front of someone for the first time. It's like a really embarrassing situation. To me, singing is almost like crying, and you have to really know someone before you can start crying in front of them.

Vulnerability is the essence of romance. It's the art of being uncalculated, the willingness to look foolish, the courage to say, 'This is me, and I'm interested in you enough to show you my flaws with the hope that you may embrace me for all that I am but, more important, all that I am not.'

You must take the risk to disclose yourself in order to become more real, more human. And even if the price is high.

You know, real artists, we expose our flaws. We long for intimacy.