It’s much better being an older father. You don’t have to go prove to the world and to yourself that you’re who you want to be, for better or worse. – Kris Kristofferson
The closest I’ve come to knowing myself is in losing myself. That’s why I loved football before I loved music. I could lose myself in it. – Kris Kristofferson
Every time I turn on the radio, I must be on the wrong song or something. But, to be honest, since I went on the road back in 1970, I didn’t listen to radio music because I didn’t want to subconsciously steal somebody’s stuff. – Kris Kristofferson
I think I’m a much better father as an older man than I was with my first kids. Occasionally, I have to yell at the little guys, but they don’t take me seriously. ‘Listen to the old guy,’ they say. ‘Isn’t he great? He’s mad.’ – Kris Kristofferson
Havin’ Dylan cover one of your songs is like being a playwright and having Shakespeare act in your play. – Kris Kristofferson
I gave everything I ever wrote to Johnny Cash. I think he said later in some interview that he would take them home and throw them in the lake with all the other demos. I’m sure he got a million of them. – Kris Kristofferson
They say the first thing to go is your legs, then it’s your reflexes, then it’s your friends. – Kris Kristofferson
Never give up, which is the lesson I learned from boxing. As soon as you learn to never give up, you have to learn the power and wisdom of unconditional surrender, and that one doesn’t cancel out the other; they just exist as contradictions. The wisdom of it comes as you get older. – Kris Kristofferson
If ‘Bobby McGee’ lasts, if ‘Star Is Born’ lasts, if ‘Help Me Make It through the Night’ lasts, if all of ’em last, man… who cares? – Kris Kristofferson
When I was stationed in Germany, Johnny Cash was already a legend over there because he’d done some shows, then gone off to some bar straight afterwards and played just for the troops. So he was a real hero. – Kris Kristofferson
I remember I had an actor friend – a close friend from college – Anthony Zerbe. He sent me a telegram before I started my first movie, ‘Cisco Pike.’ It said, ‘Have a good time. Ignore the camera.’ That was the extent of my training. – Kris Kristofferson
Those ‘Idol’ shows are kind of scary to me. They wanted me to be on one of those panels one time, and I said it’s the last thing in the world I’d ever want to do. I would hate to have to discourage somebody. – Kris Kristofferson
I was working the Gulf of Mexico on oil rigs, flying helicopters. I’d lost my family to my years of failing as a songwriter. All I had were bills, child support, and grief. And I was about to get fired for not letting 24 hours go between the throttle and the bottle. It looked like I’d trashed my act. But there was something liberating about it. – Kris Kristofferson
I grew up in a time when people believed in duty, honor and country. My grandfathers were both officers. My father was a General in the Air Force. My brother and I were both in the Army. I’ve always felt a kinship with soldiers; I think it’s possible to support the warrior and be against the war. – Kris Kristofferson
I’ve been writing songs since I was a little boy. You know, I think I wrote my first song when I was 11. – Kris Kristofferson
I have no regrets. I feel very grateful for the life that I had – you know, family I live with; and I’ve been doing work that I love, ever since I came to Nashville. – Kris Kristofferson
I feel like sometimes, when I’m singing a song like ‘Moment of Forever,’ that it goes both to your significant other and to the audience, and was it wonderful for you, you know? I think the best love songs I’ve written work on that level, like ‘Help Me Make It Through the Night.’ – Kris Kristofferson
Tell the truth. Sing with passion. Work with laughter. Love with heart. ‘Cause that’s all that matters in the end. – Kris Kristofferson
To me, if you love it enough to devote your life to it, then you’re doing the right thing. – Kris Kristofferson
‘Heaven’s Gate’ was based on a true story about the cattle people: the people who had the money turned on the settlers who were in the area. And it was mainly a defense of their behavior. And the cattlemen’s association had just about declared war on these people who were poaching cattle, and because they were mainly immigrants. – Kris Kristofferson
There was time in the first half of the ’80s when what I was saying on the stage was controversial. A lot of things I was talking about – Nicaragua and American foreign policy. – Kris Kristofferson
