Simon Cowell Quotes

I don't think I can do this anymore.

I think if you're an unhappy person, you're always going to be an unhappy person. You're probably going to be less unhappy if your business is doing well, if I'm being honest.

For the music business, social networking is brilliant. Just when you think it's doom and gloom and you have to spend millions of pounds on marketing and this and that, you have this amazing thing now called fan power. The whole world is linked through a laptop. It's amazing. And it's free. I love it. It's absolutely brilliant.

Have I got a black book? Yes, it's called a mobile phone. I do get offers. There is no shortage of people if you want to go on dates - working in TV, living in L.A., it is there if you want it.

Every time I sat in a chemistry lesson, I thought, 'What am I doing this for? I don't ever want to be in a job that involves a Bunsen burner.'

You sounded like someone who should be singing on a cruise ship. Halfway through your song, I wished the ship was sinking.

I thought the first two seasons of America's Got Talent were good. I think this one is the best one by a mile because they - you see the difference this year, I think, with the crowd being effectively the fourth judge. But most importantly, I think that these shows have to have a relevance because if you're not finding stars at the back of these shows - whether it's Idol or Got Talent - they're a complete waste of time.

My advice would be if you want to pursue a career in the music business, don't.

I've spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on the very best security and I can assure you my homes are as safe as the Bank of England.

Choosing how you vote should not be a snap verdict based on a few minutes of television.

It's not our intention to be mean. That's just within us.

What I would argue in my defence is that shows like 'Britain's Got Talent' and 'The X Factor' have actually got people more interested in music again and are sending more people into record stores.

I was never given any hand-outs. I started at the bottom and was very good at finding people who knew more than me and learning from them.

Women say hello and then put their hands down my trousers. I thought it was my hand they were supposed to shake.

We have hated the French for years. Now you have just joined the club. It makes you much more likable.

If I tape an 11-hour day, guess which parts end up on air. Not the bits when I'm pleasant, but the parts when I'm obnoxious.

Praise a stranger with a few nice words and he becomes a stranger that calls you a friend.

I was bought an electric guitar when I was 12, but my guitar teacher beat me up. I didn't like guitar lessons and I got quite bored. My teacher was obviously bored giving me lessons, and one day I offered him a liquorice toffee, but he didn't answer. So I threw it at him, it hit him in the face, and he sort of beat me up.

I have total respect for anyone who discovers a band like Snow Patrol. I would be hopeless at signing a rock band, or anything alternative, cause I don't know what that audience are into and I don't particularly like that kind of music.

I hated school, but I love work.

What other people think about me is none of my business .

I've never bought a Dylan record. A singing poet? It just bores me to tears. I've got to tell you, if I had 10 Dylans in the final of 'American Idol,' we would not be getting 30 million viewers a week. I don't believe the Bob Dylans of this world would make 'American Idol 'a better show.

The biggest shock when I lost it all was the realization that so much of my life had been out of my control. When I started to make the money back, I vowed that it would never happen again. I bought things only when I could afford them. There was no big mortgage, no cars on hire purchase. I remember buying a TR6 sports car for £6,000, and funnily enough it gave me more pleasure than the Porsche ever had.

I was slightly cynical of the American mentality before I came over here, but now I preach it. Here, no one's going to tear you down if you buy yourself a $300,000 car. They're likely to say: "Well, you probably worked hard for it. Good luck to you."

I work out three or four times a week, I have Botox, take tons of vitamins and vitamin infusions - if you believe that these things work, you will feel better.

Rules equal boredom, and I don't like that.

You know what the secret to weight loss is? Don't eat much.

Not everybody is perfect, and I don't think we should be looking for perfect people.

When I look at it now, the whole punk thing is sort of comedy in a weird way.

I don't like kids that are pushed into things by stage mums, but when I can see they are having a good time, they're excited and enjoying the process, then I think it's wrong to discriminate.

You are a saucy little thing aren't you?

Anyone who goes on 'The X Factor' to make big money will be in for a big shock.

I probably get more satisfaction from making a show than being on a show.

I actually don't understand a word Paula's saying anymore. It's like a new language.

I turned down many chances to be on TV before 'Pop Idol' because I really wasn't interested in being famous. I didn't need it and didn't want it.

There's an expression in life: "You can only make one first impression." And that first impression has to be spectacular. So, I wait, and let people see it when it's ready to go. It's not a set rule, but I think it's the better way of working. People will agree with you because of your track record, but you want people to like it because it's good, not because you found it.

I'm obsessed with cleanliness for myself, so I will take a bath three times a day, sometimes a steam twice a day in addition to that.

I don't like people who are hypocritical, who pretend to be nice, particularly in show business when they're nice on camera, and then off camera they're absolutely appalling to the makeup people, or the waitress in a restaurant, you know? I don't like - I can't bear those kind of people. So I like people who are, you know, up front in your face.

I LOVE ONE DIRECTION!!!!!!!!!!!

I was 12 years old when I first realized that food could be hot. That's why I turned out the way I am.

Music should always be polarizing. What one person likes, somebody else hates. And I hate that kind of snobbery in pop music. The fact that so many people are getting upset over this one song is hysterical. And if people like it, that's great.

It's personalities, it's conflict, it's all of these things that actually make performers interesting.

Sometimes when you have a record out, you think you're going to go in at No. 1 but you go in at No. 8. So your second record has to be better. That's how I treat it.

I suggest we bring some normality back to this country and say if you are carrying a knife, there must be zero tolerance. If it was up to me, everyone caught with a knife would get an automatic ten year sentence.

People confuse ego, lust, insecurity with true love.

You didn't beat the compotition you crushed the compotition!

If we had to choose one American Idol to go out to dinner with, it would be Fantasia. There are no airs and graces about her ... I like her.

I get very anti-social, depressed and irritable with people. I don't have time for them. I can't make phone calls and stuff. I just sit on my own for days.

It simply works. You do it twice a year. Who cares? And it balances my smoking and drinking.

My dad wasn't someone who was a great disciplinarian, we had a fun relationship, but he gave me really constructive advice in my life, which I still carry today and I do pass on to other people. So if I can have the same relationship with my son as I had with my dad, then I think he'll be very happy and I'll be very happy.

You always want to go to a party where you get an invite.

I've always treated the music business as a business.

I like spaghetti bolognese, I like baked beans on toast. I hate French food. I hate fancy food.

My own saying is: 'Create the hype, but don't ever believe it.'

No one really has any job security anymore, including myself.

I love producing shows. And so when you're on a show where other people are making decisions you don't necessarily agree with it, after a while you start to feel like a passenger.

When I think of invention, I always think of America. You're always seeing ads: 'Have you got the next big idea?' There seems to be that spirit in America of inventions and inventors.

I hate belongings. I hate clutter. It really bothers me because I can't think properly. If you've got distractions in front of you, your mind goes nuts.

I have always hated celebrities lecturing people on politics. So forgive me. But I am passionate about this country. I am equally passionate about the potential of the people who live here.

I met someone the other night who's 28 years old, and he hasn't worked a day since he left college because he's pursuing a dream he'll never, ever realize: He thinks he's a great singer. Actually, he's crap.

I can't admit things; that's why I can't go to funerals and stuff like that. I find it very, very difficult to deal with that kind of reality. I shut myself off totally because it affects me so badly.

What luxury would I take to a desert island? A mirror. It's true. I'd miss me.

You don't hate the mosquito; you just want it out of your face.

Beyonce is good-looking. Jennifer Lopez is good-looking. Madonna used to be good-looking.

I do see a big difference in the American work ethic compared to the British work ethic in a lot of artists.

The only people with power today are the audience. And that is increasing with Twitter, Facebook, and everything else. We cater to their likes and dislikes, and you ignore that at your peril.

That was extraordinary. Unfortunately, extraordinarily bad.

Work hard, be patient, and be a sponge while learning your business. Learn how to take criticism. Follow your gut instincts and don't compromise.

Harshness to me is giving somebody false hopes and not following through. That's harsh. Telling some guy or some girl who've got zero talent that they have zero talent actually is a kindness.

If I go into a relationship with an artist, which at most is going to last five years, we have a 100-page contract covering every eventuality. Whereas with marriage you go into it with no contract, with laws that date back hundreds of years, and I don't think that's right.

I think the best singers in the world, historically, are American. Britain's got its fair share, as well, but some of the greatest singers, ever, whether you're talking about Whitney [Houston] or Mariah [Carey] or Aretha Franklin, are from the legacy here.

It's not my habit to kiss and tell. I've never done it.

At 20, you're cocky and you think you can rule the world, and you get it all wrong.

The only magazines I read are car magazines.

It was like orderin a hamburger and getting only the buns
(After Brooke White of season 7 on american idol sang the song 'Hero'
by Mariah Carey)

I am quite miserable because I'm never satisfied with what I've got. You're always looking for that next high, and that is what I would define as happiness.

So I would only feel guilt if I misled somebody who was terrible.

Holding auditions in front of an audience is testing.

I don't mind being cast as some kind of a pantomime baddie, but I am very fair in business. I always have been. I pride myself on being fair.

The best way to kill someone is from the inside, by crushing their hopes and dreams.

If I went to a psychiatrist, it would be a long session. I've always thought that I do have a number of issues that probably need dealing with, because I am quite odd in some ways.

I think that by ignoring the show you're ignoring the audience who put you there.

There's no need for me to get married. I live with someone; we're happy; end of story.

I have very good advice to give to kids this age, which is, you shouldn't listen to your mum or dad and you just have to work it out for yourself. And the reason I've taken the age range down this year, and I never would have done it 10 years ago, is what I've seen with the success of Willow Smith. You don't have to be so cutesy anymore.

In TV, film, and music there's a lot of snobbery, and I don't like it. I've never been a cultural snob.

I look at him [son Eric] and I think of my dad all the time ... I was born to be a dad.

If I was gay, why wouldn't I admit it? It wouldn't harm me.

Of course I have an ego, but you have to have an ego. You have to be incredibly competitive. I can get competitive at times, way too much, and it becomes a little bit obsessive.

I'm not that musical. I don't really know how a record is produced, and, funnily enough, I don't want to.

Anything I shouldn't laugh at makes me laugh. I mean, I'm bad at that, when somebody is singing something terribly and I'm thinking to myself, 'If I laugh now, this is the absolute worst thing I could ever do,' and then I start laughing and I can't stop.

I think of stress as the creator of cancer and heart attacks, like a tiny little ball you feed. I believe that one of the reasons I've never got ill is that I'm not stressed.

It would hurt my feelings if I respected your opinions.

I should get a dog. I would get a rescue dog. I like mutts; I don't care. I would probably get a three-legged dog no one else would want.

I think you have to judge everything based on your personal taste. And if that means being critical, so be it. I hate political correctness. I absolutely loathe it.

Being different is good; embrace it.

If you've got a big mouth and you're controversial, you're going to get attention.

I've never liked the idea you have to be a certain age to be a pop star. I like the idea that anybody can enter, anybody can compete.

The end of the animal trade would leave more time to trap or beat to death pop star wannabes.

I didn't have any qualifications when I left school - I had three O-levels.

Sometimes you feel there's like a tidal wave of stuff that continues to come. You feel trapped.