Tom Jones Quotes

I met Elvis first in Las Vegas. I think I was appearing with Tom Jones and he came backstage to say hello to Tom or we went to his dressing room to say hello. ~ Norm Crosby

If you're going to be a star, you should look like one. ~ Tom Jones

I look at the books on my library shelves. They certainly seem dormant. But what if the characters are quietly rearranging themselves? What if Emma Woodhouse doesn't learn from her mistakes? What if Tom Jones descends into a sodden life of poaching and outlawry? What if Eve resists Satan, remembering God's injunction and Adam's loving advice? I imagine all the characters bustling to get back into their places as they feel me taking the book down from the shelf. "Hurry," they say, "he'll expect to find us exactly where he left us, never mind how much his life has changed in the meantime. ~ Verlyn Klinkenborg

Things began to pick up for me record-wise when in 1971 I wrote 'She's a Lady' for Tom Jones. ~ Paul Anka

There's plenty for me to do. There are more albums. I'll record as long as I can and as long as my voice works as well as it does now and for as long as people want to hear me. ~ Tom Jones

Despite what pretty poets say, the night is only half the day. ~ Tom Jones

Tom Jones is like igloo-cool. ~ Will.i.am

I've always felt myself as being a serious singer. ~ Tom Jones

I had a brother six years older than me, so I wasn't just listening to teenybopper stuff. My brother had the cooler music, but my parents had the Burt Bacharach, Tom Jones, the Association, the Fifth Dimension; these groups were un-cool, but I secretly loved them. ~ Jill Sobule

I think it's good that I had some experience of the real world before I became successful. You know, having to get up in the morning and going to work in construction. ~ Tom Jones

With the motto "do what you will," Rabelais gave himself permission to do anything he damn well pleased with the language and the form of the novel; as a result, every author of an innovative novel mixing literary forms and genres in an extravagant style is indebted to Rabelais, directly or indirectly. Out of his codpiece came Aneau's Alector, Nashe's Unfortunate Traveller, López de Úbeda's Justina, Cervantes' Don Quixote, Béroalde de Verville's Fantastic Tales, Sorel's Francion, Burton's Anatomy, Swift's Tale of a Tub and Gulliver's Travels, Fielding's Tom Jones, Amory's John Buncle, Sterne's Tristram Shandy, the novels of Diderot and maybe Voltaire (a late convert), Smollett's Adventures of an Atom, Hoffmann's Tomcat Murr, Hugo's Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Southey's Doctor, Melville's Moby-Dick, Flaubert's Temptation of Saint Anthony and Bouvard and Pecuchet, Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Frederick Rolfe's ornate novels, Bely's Petersburg, Joyce's Ulysses, Witkiewicz's Polish jokes, Flann O'Brien's Irish farces, Philip Wylie's Finnley Wren, Patchen's tender novels, Burroughs's and Kerouac's mad ones, Nabokov's later works, Schmidt's fiction, the novels of Durrell, Burgess (especially A Clockwork Orange and Earthly Powers), Gaddis and Pynchon, Barth, Coover, Sorrentino, Reed's Mumbo Jumbo, Brossard's later works, the masterpieces of Latin American magic realism (Paradiso, The Autumn of the Patriarch, Three Trapped Tigers, I the Supreme, Avalovara, Terra Nostra, Palin ~ Steven Moore

'Doc, I can't stop singing the green green grass of home. 'That sounds like Tom Jones syndrome'. 'Is it common?' 'It's not unusual.' ~ Tommy Cooper

I come from a coal-mining, working-class background. My father was a coal miner. ~ Tom Jones

Manchester was a fantastic place to go out in. There were 10 clubs with world-class cabaret and comedians. You'd go in and Tom Jones might be singing, or Shirley Bassey or Engelbert Humperdinck. ~ Francis Lee

Have you ever read Udolpho, Mr. Thorpe?" "Udolpho! Oh, Lord! Not I; I never read novels; I have something else to do." Catherine, humbled and ashamed, was going to apologize for her question, but he prevented her by saying, "Novels are all so full of nonsense and stuff; there has not been a tolerably decent one come out since Tom Jones, except The Monk; I read that t'other day; but as for all the others, they are the stupidest things in creation. ~ Jane Austen

Love is in the air everywhere I look around. Love is in the air every sight and every sound. ~ Tom Jones

I didn't like to be restricted, because when you're in a choir, you have a part to sing and you sing it. I always liked singing on my own. ~ Tom Jones

From time to time people who knew us both would try to get us to make up. "Life's too short, Tom." But I'd only get bullish about that. "Too right. Life's too short to be fucking about with Engelbert Humperdinck. ~ Tom Jones

I was leaving the hotel to get to the fight when my phone went and someone said 'Hello Ricky, it's Tom'. I said 'Tom who?' and when he said 'Tom Jones' I told him to eff off! I thought it was a wind-up! ~ Ricky Hatton

This is how I feel, every day, and people don't want to know that. They want to know that I'm feeling what Tom Jones makes you feel. Or that Australian girl who used to be in Neighbours. But I feel like this, and they won't play what I feel on the radio, because people that are sad don't fit in. ~ Nick Hornby

I never expected to get the Tom Jones treatment and it amazes me that I do. Strangely it's women who throw their underwear at me when I'm performing live. My male fans tend to be quite shy. My female fans are wild. I never know what to do with all the lingerie that lands at my feet. Maybe I should open a shop. ~ Ellie Goulding

Alexis grabbed his arm. "Tom Jones? Wow, I totally love Tom Jones. He's like quintessential Vegas - over the top and indecent fun. Let me just go grab a pair of underwear to throw at him and we'll be all set."
Over his undead body. If anyone was getting her underwear tossed in his face, it was going to be him.
"I don't think so, Ball Buster. You're not giving your panties to an old man."
"Oh, and you're so young, Garlic?"
"Garlic?" What the hell was that?
"Yep. Now we have pet names for each other, isn't that adorable? You're Garlic and I'm Ball Buster. Now everyone will believe we're a real couple. ~ Erin McCarthy

I don't consider myself no attractive man. People like Tom Jones and Elvis Presley - I'm not nothing like that. ~ Muhammad Ali

There is a curious paradox that no one can explain. Who understands the secret of the reaping of the grain? Who understands why Spring is born out of Winter's laboring pain, or why we must all die a bit before we grow again? I do not know the answer; I merely know it's true. I hurt them for that reason, and myself a little bit too. ~ Tom Jones

Richard Burton was Welsh; Tom Jones is Welsh, and we Welshmen like to think of ourselves as heroes - on screen and off! ~ Timothy Dalton

First of all, I love singing. I mean, I get out of bed and I sing. I can't help it. ~ Tom Jones

I think the first time I ever wore a tuxedo was when I played at the Talk Of The Town in 1967, because it was a nightclub and that was the thing to do. ~ Tom Jones

He's managed to make himself something highly unusual for a man at this stage of his career: unclassifiable. Unpredictable. Tom Jones is no joke ~ Ken Tucker

As for the music business itself, the key things have not changed that much. It operates like any business and money still keeps things moving. ~ Tom Jones

The 'Weston' is actually my middle name. I hyphenated it because I really wasn't willing to go out in the acting world as 'Tom Jones,' 'cause I'm Welsh as well, so the connotation is just ridiculous. ~ Tom Weston-Jones

I've always liked to dance - I've got a natural rhythm. ~ Tom Jones

There is nothing like the sound of a Welsh Male Choir and the Treorchy is the finest. They have represented the best of the Welsh voice for generations with honour and integrity. They are international ambassadors. ~ Tom Jones

I haven't become an American! Having a house in LA is just where the house is. It's just a convenience thing living there. I carry Wales around inside me. I'd consider moving back there one day. I never really left. ~ Tom Jones

Even the mild-mannered Sophia Western of Tom Jones and Richardson's annoyingly pious Clarissa Harlow distinguished themselves by saying no to the authority of their parents, their societies, and norms and demanding to marry the man they chose. Perhaps it was exactly because women were deprived of so much in their real lives that they became so subversive in the realm of fiction, refusing the authority imposed on them, breaking out of old structures, not submitting. ~ Azar Nafisi

I've tried wearing more than one ring on one hand and it doesn't look good. It's overkill, I think. So I think a ring on either hand. Nine times out of ten I'll go for pinky rings, but not always. ~ Tom Jones

Dean Martin always dressed very well but then he was a good looking fella with a good physique so he could wear anything. ~ Tom Jones

When I look at great singers like Sinatra, Bennett and (Tom) Jones, I see great performers that can really move an audience. I really consider myself a troubadour privately and a song-plugger publicly. ~ Tiny Tim

I couldn't do the heavy rock thing anymore. Noddy Holder was around kicking every singer in the ***. I never wanted to be a pop singer. Christ, how I hated Noddy! ~ Tom Jones

It's not quite the Tom Jones show, but yes, I've had undergarments. If I get a bra chucked on stage I'll hold it up so the audience can decide what to think. And I'll usually blame a guy for doing it. ~ Michael Bolton

I have always really liked Tom Jones and I can't wait to see him in action. One thing is for sure, I would rather be singing for a living than getting punched on the head. ~ Ricky Hatton

Oh yeah, I would have been a coal miner, I would think, if I hadn't had tuberculosis when I was 12. ~ Tom Jones

I have had some pretty wild nights! I think the media keeps a very close eye on what people are up to these days. I was out with George Clooney a few nights ago and we had a great time. ~ Tom Jones

It's good to touch the green, green grass of home ~ Tom Jones

I think teen-age love is a great thing. There's nothing quite like it and never will be for the rest of your life. ~ Tom Jones

Henry Fielding, a highly successful satiric dramatist until the introduction of censorship in 1737, began his novel-writing career with Shamela, a pastiche of Pamela, which humorously attacked the hypocritical morality which that novel displayed. Joseph Andrews (1742) was also intended as a kind of parody of Richardson; but Fielding found that his novels were taking on a moral life of their own, and he developed his own highly personal narrative style - humorous and ironic, with an omniscient narrative presence controlling the lives and destinies of his characters.

Fielding focuses more on male characters and manners than Richardson. In doing so, he creates a new kind of hero in his novels. Joseph Andrews is chaste, while Tom Jones in Tom Jones (1749) is quite the opposite. Tom is the model of the young foundling enjoying his freedom (to travel, to have relationships with women, to enjoy sensual experience) until his true origins are discovered. When he matures, he assumes his social responsibilities and marries the woman he has 'always' loved, who has, of course, like a mediaeval crusader's beloved, been waiting faithfully for him. Both of these heroes are types, representatives of their sex.

There is a picaresque journey from innocence to experience, from freedom to responsibility. It is a rewriting of male roles to suit the society of the time. The hero no longer makes a crusade to the Holy Land, but the crusade is a personal one, with chivalry learne ~ Ronald Carter

What about Tom Jones? He's made a million and he's a bloody awful singer. ~ Prince Philip

Tom Jones is funny to me, man. I mean, he really tries to ape Ray Charles and Sammy Davis, you know. He's nice-looking; he looks good doing it. I mean, if I was him, I'd do the same thing. If I was only thinking about making money. ~ Miles Davis

Maybe some people can wake up and play PlayStation all day, but that's never been me. ~ Tom Brady

I think that's what happens when you get scared, and you're rushing, and you don't have time. Rather than cut things out and take a chance, and build things up you think are working, you cut everything down a little bit, and everything sort of suffers. ~ Tom Noonan

Only true love can fuel the hard work that awaits you. ~ Tom Freston

This place is like crazy on crackers. ~ Darynda Jones

I've been paying a lot of money in state income taxes, and I've been happy to do it, but when this last thing happened, this 50 percent increase in the tax rate, it was just too much. ~ Tom Golisano

We're travelling through space and time, we're dealing with gods and monsters, but at the heart of the film, from my perspective, is a family - a father, two sons, two brothers, a mother and the fractious, intimate interaction that they have. ~ Tom Hiddleston

We heard the sad news today And had to send this card to say Our thoughts and prayers go out to you There's not lot a lot that we can do But if you need just anything Pick up the phone, give us a ring Even though we're far apart We're with you in spirit and in heart And hope that you will find, at length The love of family will give you strength. ~ Margaret Jones

Every human being has talents that are just waiting to be uncovered. ~ Tom Rath

Then there's your diet. You cut out sugars, fat, soy sauces ... anything that's nice. Tea and coffee is replaced by boiling water with lemon. It's amazing how quickly you get into it. There's also herbal tea and a lot of water, obviously ... about two litres a day. ~ Tom Hardy

It never ceases to amaze me," [Chrestomanci] said, "the way people always manage to worry about the wrong things. My dear sir, do you realise that you, your son, and four of your pupils, are all likely to be burnt unless we do something? And here are you worrying about timetables. ~ Diana Wynne Jones

No, I don't think about the myth of the West. It's not the kind of thinking I do. That's more suited to people who live in big towns on the West Coast or East Coast, people who stay under a roof, in a room, all the time. ~ Tommy Lee Jones

in Britain, for example, it meant that a centralized "nickname" system could be introduced. Under this scheme, companies and individuals could reserve a special word as their "telegraphic address" to make life easier for anyone who wanted to send them a telegram. ~ Tom Standage

The press in New York has tended to favor New Society in every period, and to take it seriously, if only because it provides news. ~ Tom Wolfe

Life is a mess, Rose said. You can fix the mess human beings make, Rose said, But you can't fix the mess being human is. ~ Tom Spanbauer

London's so busy, London's manic half the time. ~ Tom Hopper

Even when I try to be good, I am bad. Even when I try to do right by you, I only hurt you. [ ... ] Even when I try to create, I destroy. ~ Nina G. Jones

There are many designers who have much greater talent as a designer than I do, but they may not have my drive, they may not work as hard, they may not have the focus, the desire ... You have to have a talent because, at the end of the day, if the pants you design don't make someone's butt look great, they're not going to buy them. ~ Tom Ford

It's no accident that marketing professionals often describe it in military language: capturing market share, penetrating the customer base, defeating competitors. It can be declarative, propagandistic, uninvolving. But in its best moments it can also encapsulate a belief, a set of values, even a religion. ~ Tom Doctoroff

If you look at your past and are depressed it means that you are listening to the devil. ~ David Lloyd-Jones

I would love to work with Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, B.B. King. I'd love to do something with Arctic Monkeys, Miles Kane, and The Last Shadow Puppets. If I got a call from Juliette Lewis or PJ Harvey, or Chrissie Hynde, that'd be a thrill. ~ Imelda May

People come, people go
Some grow young, some grow cold
I woke up in between
A memory and a dream
So let's get to the point, let's roll another joint
Let's head on down the road
There's somewhere I gotta go
And you don't know how it feels
You don't know how it feels to be me ~ Tom Petty

My idol is Emile Zola. He was a man of the left, so people expected of him a kind of 'Les Miserables,' in which the underdogs are always noble people. But he went out, and found a lot of ambitious, drunk, slothful and mean people out there. Zola simply could not - and was not interested in - telling a lie. ~ Tom Wolfe

The Democrats continue to snipe at Bush. They'll never give it up to him. You know Teddy Kennedy and Tom Daschle pick more nits than a father and son spider monkey team who know they're being followed by a National Geographic film crew. ~ Dennis Miller

i love watching what you become when life thinks it has you cornered. ~ Curtis Tyrone Jones

Through their work with fetal tissue, researchers hope to find ways to harness embryonic stem cells which have the ability to become any type of human cell and could provide new treatments for many illnesses. ~ Tom Allen

I must say that I do wrestle with the amount of money I make, but at the end of the day what am I gonna say? I took less money so Rupert Murdoch could have more? ~ Tom Hanks

The will to live cannot be overestimated as a stimulant to longevity. ~ Tom Robbins

We are spending $1 billion a week in Iraq. ~ Tom Allen

She could make dream-worlds of her own – but no dream-world would satisfy her now. She wanted some explanation of this hard, real life: the unhappy-looking father seated at the dull breakfast-table; the childish bewildered mother; the little sordid tasks that filled the hours, or the more oppressive emptiness of weary, joyless leisure; the need of some tender, demonstrative love; the cruel sense that Tom didn't mind what she thought or felt, and that they were no longer playfellows together; the privation of all pleasant things that had come to her more than to others: she wanted some key that would enable her to understand and, in understanding, endure, the heavy weight that had fallen on her young heart. If she had been taught "real learning and wisdom, such as great men knew," she thought she should have held the secrets of life; if she had only books that she might learn for herself what wise men knew! ~ George Eliot

If I'm moving too fast or coming on too hard... ~ N.D. Jones

I had them running for two months once, so about one-fifty billion miles a second - those big numbers, sometimes they seem to stare right back at you, don't they? ~ Tom Melly

When freedom is outlawed, only outlaws will be free. ~ Tom Robbins

I'll take a rusty nail and scratch your initials on my arm. ~ Tom Waits

It's really never fair to judge people because none of us know what's going on inside anyone else's head. ~ Tom Ford

Imagine a life spent having to overcome an endless line of people like St. Vincent and Nelson. I am right - demonstrably right - repeatedly; yet, instead of receiving their support, I get their condemnation and contempt. ~ Tom Grundner

We need the quarterbacks. It's a passing league and a quarterback-driven league. We need the Peyton Mannings in football uniforms out there playing - the Tom Bradys, the Drew Breeses, the Philip Riverses - we need those guys instead of them standing on the sideline. ~ John Madden

I've never seen anyone as beautiful as you, sweetheart. All supple and voluptuous, a mountain of curves I can't wait to climb. ~ N.D. Jones

Flaws.
We all have them. BUT, they are all about perception. What I consider as a flaw may not be what someone else considers as a flaw. To me, a flaws is an imperfection or a fault in MY eyes. I consider my flaws to be things that I do not like about myself and things that I would like to change. ~ Horacio Jones

I'd like a glass of cold gravy with a hair in it, please. ~ Davy Jones

My ultimate style icon is Grace Jones. ~ Nick Rhodes

Paradoxically, intensifiers like very, highly, and extremely also work like hedges. They not only fuzz up a writer's prose but can undermine his intent. If I'm wondering who pilfered the petty cash, it's more reassuring to hear Not Jones; he's an honest man than Not Jones; he's a very honest man. The reason is that unmodified adjectives and nouns tend to be interpreted categorically: honest means "completely honest," or at least "completely honest in the way that matters here" (just as Jack drank the bottle of beer implies that he chugged down all of it, not just a sip or two). As soon as you add an intensifier, you're turning an all-or-none dichotomy into a graduated scaled. True, you're trying to place your subject high on the scale - say, an 8.7 out of 10 - but it would have been better if the reader were not considering his relative degree of honesty in the first pace. That's the basis for the common advice (usually misattributed to Mark Twain) to "substitute damn every time you're inclined to write very; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be" - though today the substitution would have to be of a word stronger than damn. ~ Steven Pinker

There are many fans of hard rock music that have been wrongly pigeonholed as apathetic. This music is not music for the elitist coffeehouse culture in SoHo. It' s rock 'n' roll music for kids across the land, and I think that makes it much more subversive in a way, in that it has the form and the function of a powerful, populist music, but it can carry very incendiary messages. ~ Tom Morello