Bruce Springsteen Quotes

It feels like the more I'm out there in the public eye, the more criticism I get. You need to have confidence - that's what it takes to walk out there and sing a song in front of a huge group of people.

I have been on stage on a few occasions where I felt I couldn't escape the interior of my - my interior thoughts. But Peter Wolf once said, what's the strangest thing you can do on stage? Think about what you're doing.

People think I look odd onstage. But the way I deal with being incredibly nervous is by concentrating really hard.

I don't feel nervous or fearful when I'm on stage.

I was terrified of being on stage, and I had to work very hard at a craft to get past that.

Performing live in front of an audience is such a matter of will - all of those things you can do just fine in your basement, suddenly you have to do them in front of hundreds or thousands of people, and it becomes a different matter entirely.

I never used to speak to the audience at all. I never really knew what to say onstage.

I can sing in front of people. I can go on a TV show, live, and not feel like I'm going to throw up.

In high school, I was too shy to perform. It's one thing to get laughs from your family, to be funny at parties and in class. It's another thing to get up on the stage.

Getting up in front of an audience is my biggest motivation.

On stage the spotlight is on me and I cannot afford to be shy.

Everyone will clearly be a bit nervous and scared before going onstage. But what I do is just remember that this is my passion. Once I get on the stage and see everyone smiling and looking at me, the joy that it brings to me makes me forget all about my nerves.

Every time I step onto the stage, it's not only proving to the audience that I'm capable but to myself.

Half the time, when I first run onstage, I can't look directly at the audience just because of self-consciousness. It's human nature. Sometimes you feel like the man, and sometimes you don't. But sometimes that self-conscious energy is good for the show, it draws people in more.

I don't feel like I'm the type of performer who's going to knock your socks off. I'm trying to get over my nerves.

I think the fear of humiliating yourself on stage always motivates me to give at least 90 percent. I've definitely been guilty of leaning on the mic stand, but you can only do that so long before you're like, "Jesus, I'm bombing." The fact that people pay to come see me, that's really just out the window.

When you go on a stage, before you go on a stage you're really scared and you're really frightened. You don't know what to do. "Why did I say yes to this?" But once you're on the stage you think, "Okay."

Whenever I'm onstage, I try my best not to think that I'm performing. It's simply another part of my day.

I get really nervous right before I go on stage. But once I'm performing, I always love it. It's like being in a different world.

It takes a lot of courage to be a performer.

When school friends would think about appearing on stage as the most frightening, the most awful, intimidating experience ever, I knew that it was something I could do.

I'd go onstage doing this thing, trying to fill this arena that I can't fill because I don't understand what this is. It's like you're given a job that's beyond you. And it's taken me years to realize what works in those big situations.

I think everyone's afraid of public speaking. There have been times where I've come out of my own show and been like, 'Oh, God, what am I doing?' . . . You have to remind yourself that 'OK, I'm kind of a badass. I can handle it.'

I wasn't comfortable on stage for years. It was good - 18 shows. I want to do it again.

When you're on stage, you're in control. No one can get to you.