Paul Simon Quotes

The goal is to try and make the perfect song. Which of course will never happen.

There is no 'perfect' in music. If I ever came off the stage and felt it could not be better, it would then be time to quit.

What people really should be able to be confident in is that the standards of music- making that classically trained musicians present is elite, it is the best and all of us as artists should be committed to that.

I have tried, in all the ways I can, to make timeless music.

I've had the healthy and sobering experience of constantly working with music that is invariably better than any performance of it can be.

To do it always right, that is what music is to me.

It's really about making the best music you can make. It's really about working hard.

All he wants to do is practice and that's all he does, all day long. That's what it takes if you want to change the face of music. You've gotta be committed to it.

We're putting a lot of pressure on ourselves for this second album and so we want to make it as great as we possibly can.

Great music is great music, period.

As far as the creative side of making great, great albums and really trying to go down in history? I don't see that happening lately, you know what I mean? You have a lot of guys is talented, but at the same time, timeless music is more important to me.

There's a lot of integrity with musicians; you really still aspire to grow, and be great, to be the best version of yourself you can be.

A lot of people may not know how competitive it is to play classical music, because when you think about it, the music that you're playing is music that's been here for years. And all you're trying to do is improve upon it when you play.

I think its so cool that you can pick up the guitar and create something that didn't exist 5 minutes ago. You can write something that no ones ever heard before. You have music at your fingertips.

There's a lot of really talented people in Utah, people who would really make an effort to make the music the best that it could be and as emotional as it could be.

I really think there are two genres of music: good music and bad music. And I'm just trying to be on the side of making good music.

Music is a kind of magical thing, and you can't make magic every time, but you try. Every once in a while it has that magic, and the audience knows that. I probably miss it more than I hit it, but I think that's what all musicians try for.

It's very hard to find perfection in your life. But in the art world you can do that.

Our job is just to keep making great-sounding music and great performances.

It's very rare that we play a gig and we all come off and say 'That was great, I had a great time!' There's always someone that's had a bad time. So the goal is always to achieve the next level of performing the piece that you've written. You're looking for something that you haven't even captured on the album.

Of all the albums I've made, I still don't feel like I've made the perfect album. I've had ones that touch on this, and others that touch on that, but never one that's just perfect and fully relevant. I don't know if I'll ever make it, but I'm certainly trying every day.

I compulsively reach for perfection in music, often at the expense of everything else in my life.

As a musician, I have always strived for my albums and live performance to render a sound as close as possible to perfection.

Usually, if I hear songs, I record it on a Voice Memo first. I have to perfect it. I'm a big fan of delivery, and I want to make sure you're saying it right. I'm like, 'This has to be perfect when I do this.'

I remember seeing an interview from the Bee Gees and they were like, 'The biggest competition to the Bee Gees is the Bee Gees.' They just kept trying to top themselves and write better songs, and I'm just always trying to do that.