Johnny Cash quotes

Johnny Cash was an American singer-songwriter and musician, famous for his deep voice and influential country music style. Known as "The Man in Black," his songs often explored themes of sorrow, redemption, and hardship. He became a legendary figure in American music, leaving a lasting impact on generations of artists. Here are 73 of his quotes:

You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.

Johnny Cash

God gives us life and takes us away as He sees fit.

Johnny Cash

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine; I keep my eyes wide open all the time. I keep the ends out for the tie that binds. Because you're mine, I walk the line.

Johnny Cash

I love the freedoms we got in this country, I appreciate your freedom to burn your flag if you want to, but I really appreciate my right to bear arms so I can shoot you if you try to burn mine.

Johnny Cash

Sometimes I am two people. Johnny is the nice one. Cash causes all the trouble. They fight.

Johnny Cash

I have tried drugs and a little of everything else, and there is nothing in the world more soul-satisfying than having the kingdom of God building inside you and growing.

Johnny Cash

You can ask the people around me. I don't give up. I don't give up... and it's not out of frustration and desperation that I say I don't give up. I don't give up because I don't give up. I don't believe in it.

Johnny Cash

So we raise her up every morning And we bring her down slow every night, We don't let her touch the ground, And we fold her up right. On second thought I do like to brag. Cause I'm mighty proud of That Ragged Old Flag.

Johnny Cash

There's a man goin' 'round takin' names. An' he decides who to free and who to blame. Everybody won't be treated all the same. There'll be a golden ladder reaching down. When the man comes around.

Johnny Cash

I'm not bitter. Why should I be bitter? I'm thrilled to death with life.

Johnny Cash

Everybody was wearing rhinestones, all those sparkly clothes, and cowboy boots. I decided to wear a black shirt and pants and see if I could get by with it. I did and I've worn black clothes ever since.

Johnny Cash

There's a lot of things blamed on me that never happened. But then, there's a lot of things that I did that I never got caught at.

Johnny Cash

Flesh and blood needs flesh and blood, and you're the one I need.

Johnny Cash

There's unconditional love there. You hear that phrase a lot but it's real with me and her [June Carter]. She loves me in spite of everything, in spite of myself. She has saved my life more than once. She's always been there with her love, and it has certainly made me forget the pain for a long time, many times. When it gets dark and everybody's gone home and the lights are turned off, it's just me and her.

Johnny Cash

I wore black because I liked it. I still do, and wearing it still means something to me. It's still my symbol of rebellion -- against a stagnant status quo, against our hypocritical houses of God, against people whose minds are closed to others' ideas.

Johnny Cash

I took the easy way, and to an extent I regret that. Still, though, the way we did it was honest. We played it and sang it the way we felt it, and there's a lot to be said for that.

Johnny Cash

When, I was just a baby, My mama told me, son Always be a good boy, Don't ever play with guns. But I shot a man in Reno Just to watch him die. When I hear that whistle blowin' I hang my head and cry.

Johnny Cash

Cash: I went into a coma and I was there for 12 days. They all thought I was dying and they couldn't diagnose what was wrong with me. They finally came up with a diagnosis of Shy-Drager syndrome. It was few months later they realized I didn't have that so it was Parkinson's. And then it was not that. Then finally it was autonomic neuropathy. ... And I'm pretty well resolved to the fact that that's what it is. And it's a slow process of the nerve endings. King: No cure? Cash: No, I don't think so. But that's all right. There's no cure for life either.

Johnny Cash

I hear the train a comin, It's rollin' round the bend. An' I ain't seen the sunshine' Since I don't know when. I'm stuck in Folsom prison, And time keeps draggin' on. But that train keeps a rollin' On down to San Antone.

Johnny Cash

The Man Comes Around" is a song that I wrote, it's my song of the apocalypse, and I got the idea from a dream that I had - I dreamed I saw Queen Elizabeth. I dreamed I went in to Buckingham Palace, and there she sat on the floor. And she looked up at me and said, "Johnny Cash, you're like a thorn tree in a whirlwind." And I woke up, of course, and I thought, what could a dream like this mean? Thorn tree in a whirlwind? Well, I forgot about it for two or three years, but it kept haunting me, this dream. I kept thinking about it, how vivid it was, and then I thought, Maybe it's biblical. So I found it. Something about whirlwinds and thorn trees in the Bible. So from that, my song started and... "The Man Comes Around.

Johnny Cash

I do my best to hide this low-down feelin'. I try to make believe there's nothing wrong. But they're always askin me about you, darlin And it hurts me so to tell 'em that you're gone. If they ask me I guess I'd be denyin' that I've been unhappy all alone. But if they heard my heart, they'd hear it cryin' Where's my darling, when's she comin home?

Johnny Cash

A young cowboy named Billy Joe grew restless on the farm; A boy filled with wanderlust who really meant no harm. He changed his clothes and shined his boots; And combed his dark hair down. And his mother cried as he walked out.Don't take your guns to town son; Leave your guns at home Bill. Don't take your guns to town.

Johnny Cash