Tom Petty Quotes

You've got to be happy, you have to do this thing [music] for the love. It's not like you go into music because it's going to make a lot of money. It's something you do... that's the thing. You got to accept all that hard work with it, too. And enjoy it, and love it.

I washed dishes so I could make movies. it was never a way for me to make money.

I've always been rapping before I was making money off of it. Before I made a profit, I had always been rapping.

I would be involved with music whether I had a career or not. I'm always going to be writing songs and recording them.

We make music for a living. Like I've always said, if you like what you're doing, you're halfway there; if someone else likes it, that's even better. If they don't like it, at least you like it. Not to be selfish, but you kind of have to be.

If you play music for the right reasons, the rest of the things will come. The right reason to play music is that you love it. That's why I play music. I never imagined that I was going to be doing this, especially because I never thought of myself as an instrumentalist.

Music is a hobby, because I'm not making any money out of it, but I put just as much conviction into that as I do into my acting.

I used to play flute and clarinet at school, and although I wasn't thinking about making a living or getting a pay cheque, I already knew I was going to play music all my life.

I worked my butt off in high school and received a lot of scholarships for college and to throw all that away for acting was tough for my family, but it was just something I felt my heart pulling me towards and don't regret a single minute of it. I love to act!

But if I didn't have to make money, I would still play my horn.

At times, I think, 'What would I rather be doing than music?' That's what you have to ask yourself, if you feel like you need to be somewhere else... But there's nothing else I want to do more than music. That's why I stay in the booth.

A lot of times, you do independent films for passion because you may even lose money doing one, but it doesn't matter.

I love what I do, somehow I have been able to play in a band for my entire life and that is all I ever wanted to do. I love that I get to do that.

Music was always the distraction, so it was the obvious choice to pursue. My dad always said to find a job I love to do, that way it wouldn't feel like a job. So I did that.

I'm not looking for career attention, for more success, more money. I'm just singing songs I chose because I love them.

My experience with music, I'm not going to say extremely negative, but it's definitely been a grind; it's been grimy - it hasn't been a pretty process. It's left me crying, you know, on the carpet in my tiny apartment with, like, no money. But it's been worth it, it's my passion, my dream, it's what I love to do.

I am never going to give music up.

Even if I'm making music for people for $20 a night, at least I'm making music.

When I was 17 or 18 and it was time to figure out what to do with my life, I realized that I didn't enjoy anything as much as I enjoyed playing music. I felt that I had no choice: that I had to become a musician.

My parents were so far from the music world that they couldn't conceive how you could make a living. But for me, it was the only solution for the rest of my life.

The band and I really enjoy working for people who enjoy the music. I haven't made a bazillion dollars doing this. I do it because I love it. I did it for free and will do it for free in the morning.

I believe it's important to put all of your energy into what you're doing rather than doing an office job and trying to muster up energy for music. It's been a real blessing to play music full time.

Music was going to be my thing. Was I going to make a living at it? That was kind of a joke. It was just my passion, and if I was broke doing my passion, so be it.

Money is always a motivating factor, but money has never been my driving force. In my first fight, I paid the promoter in order for me to fight. I was in the hole 300 bucks for that. Money has always been a byproduct of me doing something I love.

Music has been my real solace. And that's why I play music. And that's why I'm so determined, or have been so determined to pursue what I wanted to do, come what may.