Johnny Mathis quotes: the singer-songwriter’s best bits.
“It doesn’t mean a thing when others tell you you’re good. You have to feel it yourself.”
“People are stubborn about what they perceive to be the right thing or the wrong thing, and it takes a long time to filter this human condition. There’s a waiting period until people catch up. But if you have patience—which it takes when someone thinks differently from you—everybody always catches up. That patience is a wonderful virtue.”
“When you’re doing bad things, you just don’t know whether you can conquer them or not. I found out how strong I could be when I was motivated, and I’m kind of proud of that.”
“I think it’s important to cultivate as many people as you can to see which ones you jive with. And it makes you happy. If one dies, you have another one. So living is a process that you have to do by yourself, and if you can learn a few little goodies along the way that might make it easier for you, so much the better.”
“As a child, all I knew was that people kept asking me to sing, and because I liked to please, I would sing. It wasn’t until my dad told me that my singing made him happy that I began to think my voice might be good.”
“I started off as a kid singing with my dad. My dad was my best pal. But he had seven kids, and I was the only one who was kind of interested in what he was playing and singing at the piano. And he was not only my dad, but he was my best pal, and I was interested in doing whatever he wanted to.”
“Dad would come home from doing odd jobs, and sometimes he’d come home late at night with lumber, and he’d rumble around with all this wood in our small place. We’d finish putting it away, and then we’d play that piano. I’ll be eternally grateful to him.”
“The thing that means most to me is the joy that my mom and my dad got because of my career. They raised seven children on domestic wages, in a city like San Francisco, and did nothing but work, work, work.”
“I’m really pretty much a regular person who just got very lucky. I got involved early on in my life with a lot of wonderful people who helped me and guided me. I found out what I really liked to do and that was sing. And I had a lot of help to accomplish most of my goals.”
“My aspirations were never anything other than I really, really admired certain singers over the years, and I just wanted to do the best I could. And that has been kind of like the way I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to have a career, have some success, and yet continue to learn my craft.”
“Even though there’s no forum for me on the radio for the kind of music I sing anymore, I am still excited about having a career where I can sing the best music in the world, and people will come and hear me because of the hit records I’ve had in the past.”
“The light dims a little bit as you get older and new generations come along. But it’s around the holidays when I am remembered the most. It is very special, and I get a kick out of it now as much as I did when I first started.”
“My mom and dad always tried to make Christmas special for us. We were poor, but it’s funny because we had no idea.”
“My parents were over the moon when I had some success with Christmas songs because that was the time of the year that meant so much to them. They were able to see their loved ones, and it was great to hear their son’s voice on the radio while they visited.”
“Christmas is never going to go away, and it’s always going to be there. And there’s always room for one more Christmas song, I think.”
“I have no way of knowing why my career has lasted so long other than the fact that people like the sound of my voice. Fortunately, I’ve been able to maintain it.”
“At this stage, most of the awards I get are concerned with my longevity. Even I’m amazed at myself because there have been new generations since I’ve been born and new music that they create, so it’s amazing to still be on the radar.”
“No, I don’t regret my decision at all, especially after I started this music career. My eyes were as big as saucers.”
“I’ve been very happy to see some of the success that I’ve had along the way in opening the eyes of people.”
“But I am very grateful for my success, and with success, of course, comes a whole lot of celebrity.”
“Sometimes being famous gets in the way of doing what you want to do. I think there are a lot of people who really want to be famous, they really do. I don’t. It sort of gets in the way of the everyday things that I do.”
“In other words, the celebrity gets out of hand, and if you’re not careful, you will forget what you are about—and that is you are about making music that people want to hear.”
“I really, really enjoy music and that’s why I do what I do. My music has always been enough.”
“I’m still going strong. I have been very blessed and still am.”
“I met a guy on the golf course who was a kinesiologist. After I looked up the word, I found out it meant exercise. I started working with him, and that was many years ago. I go to the gym and do weights and a little cardio for an hour, five days a week.”
“I love the house that I’ve been living in for over 40 years. I really am a homebody and I still love to play golf.”
“Sure, I’ve thought about retiring, but in my mind, if you can’t sing the song anymore, change the song and sing a different one!”
“I don’t think about the future. It sort of will take care of itself; there’s not really much that I can do other than fundamental things like taking care of my voice, keeping to my exercise routine, and getting some rest.”
“I don’t feel old, except in the morning once in a while, when I can’t turn over properly and say, ‘What’s that? When did that happen?’ Our brain doesn’t accept that. We’re geared to last.”
“I’m just one of the lucky people. I have no other reason for my longevity.”
Related: Whitney Houston quotes.
