50 best Johnny Cash quotes from songs and interviews

50 best Johnny Cash quotes from songs and interviews

Johnny R. Cash was a legendary singer, songwriter, and actor from the United States. He gained immense popularity in 1963 when he released his hit song, Ring of Fire. He is also remembered for his other notable songs like Man in Black, I Walk the Line, and Hurt. Even though he passed on two decades ago, Johnny Cash quotes are still considered a great source of inspiration.

Portrait of Johnny Cash with Takamine acoustic guitar
Posed portrait of Johnny Cash with Takamine acoustic guitar in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Photo: Beth Gwinn (modified by author)
Source: Getty Images

Most of Johnny Cash's quotes are drawn from various sources, including interviews, autobiographical writings, and lyrics. Johnny was known for his candid and reflective approach to expressing his thoughts and experiences in his music and public statements. Here are Johnny Cash quotes about life in general.

Johnny Cash quotes

Johnny Cash's famous quotes resonate with timeless wisdom and profound insights into life, love, and the human experience. These cute quotes portray his connection with God and music as he was a spiritual man. Here are some of his most famous quotes:

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  • If you aren’t gonna say exactly how and what you feel, you might as well not say anything at all.
  • You’ve got to know your limitations. I don’t know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren’t too many limitations if I did it my way.
  • I don’t believe there are any people on earth who, properly sheltered, don’t feel the peace inside a summer rain and the cleansing it brings, the renewal of the earth in its aftermath.
  • People call me wild. Not really, though, I’m not. I guess I’ve never been normal, not what you call Establishment. I’m country.
  • I learn from my mistakes. It’s a very painful way to learn, but without pain, the old saying is there’s no gain.
  • Life is the question, and life is the answer, and God is the reason, and love is the way.
  • 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.
  • You have to be what you are. Whatever you are, you gotta be it.
  • Sometimes I can sow a seed. And post-hole diggers and seed sowers are mighty important in the building of the Kingdom.
  • It makes me so mad that some people underestimate the wisdom and energy of young people. All because they don’t look the way older folks think they should look.
  • There are a lot of things blamed on me that never happened. But then, there are a lot of things that I did that I never got caught at.
  • The things that have always been important: to be a good man, to try to live my life the way God would have me, to turn it over to Him that His will might be worked in my life, to do my work without looking back, to give it all I’ve got, and to take pride in my work as an honest performer.
  • There’s no more simple life with simple choices for the young.
  • 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 them. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.
  • If you don’t get outside every day, even for a minute, you have not appreciated what God has done. It makes you grateful for your surroundings, and it starts your day differently.
  • It’s good to know who hates you, and it is good to be hated by the right people.

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Johnny Cash quotes about love

Johnny Cash performs on stage at Glastonbury
Johnny Cash performs on stage at Glastonbury Festival, in June 1994. Photo: Michael Putland (modified by author)
Source: Getty Images

What are the most famous Johnny Cash's romantic quotes? Love is a beautiful thing and an antidote to the cruel world. Like any other person, Johnny Cash wrote songs with many love quotes that reflect the importance of love and its impact on humanity and society.

  • All your life, you will be faced with a choice. You can choose love or hate…I choose love. There's unconditional love there. You hear that phrase a lot, but it's real with me and her.
  • She loves me despite everything, despite 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.
  • Happiness is being at peace, being with loved ones, being comfortable… but most of all, it’s having those loved ones.
  • Six foot six, he stood on the ground. He weighed two hundred and thirty-five pounds, But I saw that giant of a man brought down to his knees by love.
  • Somehow, there’s been an immediate bond between total strangers. We share each other’s triumphs, and when one of us gets hurt, we all bleed — it’s corny, I know, but it’s true.
  • Follow your heart. That’s what I do. Compassion is something I have a lot of because I’ve been through a lot of pain in my life. Anybody who has suffered a lot of pain has a lot of compassion.
  • This morning, with her, having coffee.
  • You still fascinate and inspire me… You’re the object of my desire, the number one Earthly reason for my existence. I love you very much.
  • We fell madly in love, and we worked together all the time. And when the tour was over, we both had to go home to other people. It hurt.
  • The taste of love is sweet when a heart like ours meets.
  • We’re soulmates, friends, lovers, and everything else that makes a happy marriage. Our hearts are attuned to each other, and we’re very close.
  • When it gets dark and everybody’s gone home and the lights are turned off, it’s just me and her.
  • She’s the greatest woman I have ever known. Nobody else, except my mother, comes close.

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Johnny Cash quotes about death

Johnny Cash during the shooting of his self-titled show in 1969
The singer during the shooting of The Johnny Cash Show -At Home Layout on 1 May 1969. Photo: Michael Ochs Archives (modified by author)
Source: UGC

Johnny Cash's sayings about death reflect a contemplative and philosophical perspective on the inevitable aspect of life. The American singer opens up on the aspect of death and grief, acknowledging that these are inevitable parts of life.

  • There's no way around grief and loss: you can dodge all you want, but sooner or later, you just have to go into it, through it, and, hopefully, come out the other side.
  • I’m not bitter. Why should I be bitter? I’m thrilled to death with life.
  • God gives us life and takes us away as He sees fit.
  • How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man.
  • You miss a lot of opportunities by making mistakes, but that’s part of it: knowing that you’re not shut out forever and that there’s a goal you still can reach.
  • The world you find there will never be the same as the world you left.
  • The only frightening thing about Cinnamon Hill belongs in the realm of the living and serves to remind me that some of them – just a few of them, a tiny minority-are much more dangerous than all the dead put together.

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Best Johnny Cash quotes from songs

Some of Johnny Cash's lyrics are filled with self-acceptance, personal struggles, and authentic actions. Many have derived inspirational quotes about life, resilience, and general well-being from his songs.

  • The day you went away, I made myself a promise that I’d soon forget the day we met, but something sure went wrong, for I’m so blue and lonely.
  • I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town. I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime but is there because he’s a victim of the times.
  • Let me tell you, Mr. Teacher, when you say you’ll make me right, in five hundred years of fighting, not one Indian turned white.
  • Yeah, the ones that you’re calling wild are going to be the leaders in a little while.
  • Money can’t buy back your youth when you’re old/ A friend, when you’re lonely, or peace to your soul. The wealthiest person is a pauper at times. Compared to the man with a satisfied mind.

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Johnny Cash performs onstage in 1973
Country singer/songwriter Johnny Cash performs onstage in 1973. Photo: Michael Ochs Archives (modified by author)
Source: Getty Images
  • 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.
  • For you, I know I’d even try to turn the tide.
  • A rose looks grey at midnight but the flame is just asleep/ And steel is strong because it knows the hammer and white heat.
  • Flesh and blood need flesh and blood, and you’re the one I need.
  • The beast in me is caged by frail and fragile bars.
  • Well, you may throw your rock and hide your hand. Workin’ in the dark against your fellow man. But as sure as God made black and white, what’s down in the dark will be brought to the light.
  • Well, I’d love to wear a rainbow every day and tell the world that everything’s okay. But I’ll try to carry off a little darkness on my back. Til things are brighter, I’m the man in black.

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What was Johnny Cash's famous quote?

Johnny Cash's most famous quotes are numerous. However, the most common one is "Success is having to worry about every single thing in the world except money." This quote originates from the popular musician's general life, struggles and failures.

What were Johnny Cash's last words?

The American musician's last words are rumoured to be: "I hear the train a-comin." However, no close family member has confirmed whether they were his last words.

If you are discouraged in life and looking for something to help you keep moving, you can grab some of Johnny Cash's quotes that relate to your situation. It might be on success, life or love; his life inspires all this.

Legit.ng published classy, beautiful women quotes. Classy women have several likeable attributes that make them respectable in society. They are confident, intelligent, elegant, and independent. Classy women quotes can inspire and motivate you in many ways.

Besides their elegant looks, they have characters that make them grab everyone’s attention. These women are successful on many fronts; if you want such a life, it is good to learn something about them. Here are classy women quotes to motivate you.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Peris Wamangu avatar

Peris Wamangu (Lifestyle writer) Peris Wamangu is a reporter who also has experience working as a content writer for three years. She joined Legit 's team in 2021. Peris graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Nairobi in 2019. She enjoys writing about various topics such as fashion, currency, biographies, entertainment and business. In 2023, Peris finished the AFP course on Digital Investigation Techniques. Email: wamanguperis@gmail.com

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