Tom T. Hall Quotes

I have my own religion. I'm sort of one-quarter Baptist, one-quarter Catholic, one-quarter Jewish.

Old dogs care about you, even when you make mistakes.

I think the nature of songwriters is that they are philosophers, and philosophers have a bent towards poetry and songwriting, so I think that the two run around together. The nature of a songwriter could be philosophical. Looking for universal ideas, a way to say things, get the story across as a means of entertaining, provoking thought.

I don't know why songwriters struggle. They have to, I guess. If you're a young songwriter, quit struggling. It makes you look bad.

The first guy who came up with the concept of religion was sitting out under a tree. I'm sure of that.

Me and Jesus got our own thing going on. We don't need anybody to tell us what it's all about.

The best compliment I ever had is, one day I was in Nashville, some disc jockey said, Hey, that sounds like a Tom T. Hall song. Up until then there hadn't been any such thing.

If Barbara Walters was interviewing me, I'd figure her career was as dead as mine!

I've been polite and I've always shown up. Somebody asked me if I had any advice for young people entering the business. I said: Yeah, show up.

Make your melodies simple enough so that the average person can hum them.

It's Faster horses, Younger women, Older whiskey and More money.

My theory is if you have a religion, it's a good one. Because some people don't have any at all.

The first time with artistic endeavors is, if it's working, it was your idea, and if it's not, it's somebody else's idea.

This generation should entertain this generation. It's only fair. When I was a kid, I mowed the lawn. Now, somebody else's kid can mow the lawn.

I love winners when they cry, losers when they try.

Whiskey's to tough, Champagne costs too much, Vodka puts my mouth in gear. I hope this refrain, Will help me explain, As a matter of fact, I like beer.

It is so important for me to try, and having tried I look back on failure and success as if it were all the same.

I never hid out. I was never big enough a star.

My best album is called In Search Of A Song. That was my best shot right there. My finest hour, as they say. I could listen to the whole thing all the way through. There's nothing really crammed into it.

Sinclair Lewis was asked one time to give a talk to class of students about writing. When he got there he asked the class, Do you people want to be writers?and they all said yes. Then Lewis said, Why the hell aren't you at home writing?

I knew a lot of chords, but they weren't the chords that came with the melody that came with the idea I had for the song. Melodies are simple things. If you see a train wreck, there's a melody. If you see a little daisy blowing in the breeze, there's a melody.

She gave her heart to Jethro and her body to the whole wide world.

I was well traveled, and I created this illusion of literacy through reading and writing. I wrote a book of short stories.

I took up a sort of a hobby of just hanging around the local library. I'd pick out an author and I would read all their books.

Nobody knows a hit before it's a hit.

People think because you're private, you have something you don't want them to know.

The enticing allure of Nashville is that there is always something new coming down the pike. Put this record on and you'll hear footsteps.

When I first got to Nashville, somebody said that [Kris Kristofferson and I] were the only two people who could describe Dolly Parton without using their hands.

When you retire, it's a place in life, a part of the journey. You just don't quit work; you develop an attitude where you can do what you please.

I'm a very comfortable and happy-go-lucky old man. I never wanted to be great, because I'd just get worried.

A monkey was the President, though maybe not the first. And there was peace and harmony throughout the universe.

Ain't but three things in this world worth a solitary dime/
But old dogs, children, and watermelon wine

Is this really Butte, Montana, or just existential blues?

I had the notion that I wanted to write the great dirty American novel, so I went to Roanoke College on the GI Bill.