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“It will just absorb it [new art] until it’s part of the establishment. That’s England’s big trick. After all, didn’t they do it to the Beatles? Slap a medal on them."

“They know what I would’ve said … they knew I’d tell them where they could put it."

—on why the British government

didn’t offer him a knighthood

“To me, the monarchy is not that important. I tell you, none of them is getting near me with a sword. I kneel for no one."

“That Adolf. What a piece of work … I sort of took a personal dislike to him the minute he did my crib in. I thought it was personal."

—on Keith’s assertion that a V-1 bomb

was dropped on his house—and right

into his crib—when he was a child while

out shopping with his mother

ENDURANCE AND ENNUI

“It is tiring having to meet people all the time and be nice to them."

—when asked if getting old makes him tired

EVIL

“Cheese is very wrong."

—claiming it’s the one thing

he won’t put in his body

“When we were just innocent kids out for a good time, they’re saying, ‘They’re evil.’ Oh, I’m evil, really? So that makes you start thinking about evil. What is evil? There are … others who think we are Lucifer. Everybody’s Lucifer."

EXCESS

“I love it."

“You kinda get the message after you’ve been to a few funerals."

EXERCISE and FOOD

“I never exercise. I would say that if you tried two and a half hours with the Stones three or four times a week with a guitar round your neck, that would do it for you. Just about."

“I’m onstage with that guitar … I defy any gym to come up with a stronger regime than that."

“Why do you think there’s this three square meals a day? This is about factories. You eat, you go to work, you get a break for lunch; when you’re finished you get your dinner. But people should never eat like that. They should have little bits every two hours."

“HP Sauce is harder to kick than heroin."

EXPERIENCE and EDUCATION

“Things keep happening to me."

“Some of it, you really want to unlearn."

“Anything you throw yourself into, you better get yourself out of."

“I learned more in those six weeks than I would have learned from listening to a million records."

—on performing live onstage as the

opening act for the Everly Brothers

and Little Richard in early days

“I just sort of drift. I can drift into anything. I’m fair game."

“I’ve always just tried to avoid doing anything that would make me cringe. Anything I do, I like to be able to live with."

“Not at all. Now that you mention it, I wouldn’t mind trying it sometime."

—when asked if he lives like a monk

“Keith Richards does everything once."

“Well, it means basically—I’ve seen everything."

—when asked what he meant when

he said “I’ve seen everything”

“I’ve done the chandelier, and the revolving table with the melon. I’ve done it all, mate."

—referring to trying the Kama Sutra

specifically, but he could mean anything

“I was looking for Leonardo da Vinci’s book on anatomy. I learned a lot about anatomy, but I didn’t find the book."

—on falling off his ladder when

reaching for a book

“I’m still learning every day. I absolutely know nothing about music except what I find out tomorrow."

“Keep breathing."

—when asked what the biggest lesson

is that life has taught him

FAILURE

“I was once a choirboy. Westminster Abbey, soloist. Then my voice broke and suddenly it was, ‘Sorry, son, we can’t use you anymore.’ ”

“Ever since Westminster Abbey it’s been all downhill."

“There’s always the future."

FAME

“The legend part is easy. It’s the living that’s hard."

“I fell into it. I’m still falling."

—regarding fame and the Keith Richards myth

“You do, occasionally, just look at your feet and think, ‘This is the same old shit every night.’ ”

“I was nineteen when it started to take off, right, and just a very ordinary guy. Chucked out of nightclubs, birds would poke their tongue out at me, that kind of scene. And then, suddenly, Adonis! And you know, that is so ridiculous, so totally