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“It’s like we’ve gone over the equator. We’re Magellan."

—on the Rolling Stones’ longevity

“It’s like one of those old maps where there are dragons, and it says END OF THE WORLD. Where is it? You don’t know. You’re supposed to fall off here."

“Do you know that I actually have a bus pass in England? I’ve reached the age where I am given a free bus pass. I feel like going to England right now and riding every bus I can get!"

“It’s very nice to be forty years old in the band. I’m a lot older in real life."

“It’s about a little bit of introspection and having a sort of physical contact with the mind and the brain. Having some connection … I don’t know what you’d call it … religion? Or just call it lucky?"

—answering the question as to how to stay alive

“There’s a certain thing about growing old, which I’m still getting used to. It’s a whole new experience."

“Maybe age does matter, in that you consider time in a different way. You start to use it more, rather than clambering all over it and using it as a scaffold."

(SEE ALSO TIME)

“We’re still learning and we never stop. You never know it all."

“The quest is: Let’s find out how long a rock ’n’ roll band can go. Nobody knows because the music’s not been around for that long."

“We’re the only band to make it this far, and if we trip and fall you’ll know that’s how far it can be taken."

“We all know somebody who we know is not going to be seventy, ever. Not everyone makes it."

“There were plenty of times I could’ve given up the ghost. But it just seemed such a cheap way out."

“Somebody has to find out how far you can take this thing, and I guess it might as well be me."

“Well, look at Duke Ellington. Or Louis Armstrong. Nobody argued about them going on and on."

“People should say, ‘Isn’t it amazing these guys can move like that? Here’s hope for you all.’ Just don’t use my diet."

“The idea of retiring is like killing yourself. It’s almost like hari-kari. I intend to live to a hundred and go down in history."

“The older you get, the more proud you are of getting there, because you know that half the suckers down the road, they ain’t gon-na make it."

“Why in the world would you stop doing what you like to do? If we ever do a tour and nobody turns up, then I go back to the top of the stairs where I started. I’ll just play to myself."

“I will write all of your epitaphs."

“I wanna do it like Muddy Waters did it—till I drop."

“Maybe that’s the answer. If you want to live a long life, join the Rolling Stones."

“I’m not Nostradamus, pal."

—when asked how long he thinks he’ll live

“We’re still going to be here when nobody’s listening to your jokes."

BEING ALIVE

“It’s great to be here. Hey, it’s great to be anywhere."

—often-repeated line when he greets a concert

audience, taken from an old Max Miller routine

“I would rather be a legend than a dead legend."

“As far as I’m concerned, life is all you get and I’ll make the best out of it … And so I decided to learn to live with myself."

“To me, life is a wild animal. You hope to deal with it when it leaps at you."

“Life."

—when asked what his favorite journey is

“Waking up."

—when asked what he considers

his greatest achievement

“People think I know what I’m doing. Okay, I’ll fool them! It’s a bluff. The important thing is what comes next, and are you ready for it?"

“Living. Anybody else would be an idiot to say otherwise. You have a life. You live it."

—when asked what the most

important thing in life is

AMBITION

“Unless you really want [something], don’t jump in the pond. There’s piranhas in there."

“A pool of piranhas. You want to get in there? You better not be tasty."

“Once you’ve decided that you want to be the best rock ’n’ roller in the world, you go ahead and try it."

“You had to be the biggest dreamer in the world to think that you could export this stuff to America."

AMERICA

“If it works in America, then anything can happen."