Paul McCartney Quotations | Page 5

If there were no Carl Perkins, there would be no Beatles.

Fight for the right to live in freedom!

One of my great memories of John is from when we were having some argument. I was disagreeing and we were calling each other names. We let it settle for a second and then he lowered his glasses and he said: "It's only me." And then he put his glasses back on again. To me, that was John. Those were the moments when I actually saw him without the facade, the armor, which I loved as well, like anyone else. It was a beautiful suit of armor. But it was wonderful when he let the visor down and you'd just see the John Lennon that he was frightened to reveal to the world.

I'm only 49 years old. I'm still in the middle of this whole thing. I don't feel like it's finished at all. I'm still planning to write better songs.

I have always adored Mahler, and Mahler was a major influence on the music of the Beatles. John and me used to sit and do the Kindertotenlieder and Wunderhorn for hours, we'd take turns singing and playing the piano. We thought Mahler was gear.

I'm mad, you know? I don't think of retiring at all.

There are two things John and I always do when we're going to sit down and write a song. First of all we sit down. Then we think about writing a song.

Look, people are allowed their own opinions and they don't always coincide with yours. As an artist you just have to keep plugging on.

We would normally play it to Cynthia or whoever was around

I have such an admiration for John [Lennon], like most people. But to be the guy who wrote with him, well that's enough. Right there you could retire and go, 'Jesus I had a fantastic life. Take me, Lord.'