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“I am very, very regular, I’ll have you know. There are two things in this game—one’s called bowel movement and the other’s called vowel movement."

“I only get ill when I give up drugs."

HEROES

“The greats are the greats. You know who they are."

“None of the great ones ever sort of … stop."

“There’s a limit to hero worship."

“Me."

—when asked which historical

figure he most identifies with

HISTORY

“There’s got to be people around who know it all, man. Nobody ever really finds out what’s important with the kinds of government you’ve got now. Fifty years after, they tell you what really went on. They’ll let you know what happened to Kennedy in … time … They’ll say who did it. But by then it won’t matter; they’ll all be dead and gone, and, ‘Now it’s different, and this more enlightened age …’ ”

ILLUSION and IMAGE

“You could be sick as a dog, but as long as you’ve got a suntan, everybody thinks you’re in great shape."

“When the lie doesn’t work."

—when asked what he dislikes

most about his appearance

“I think photography is magic. It even made me look good a couple of times."

“An image is a great ball and chain to drag about. Now and again you play with it, and other times it becomes a weight, but I’ve gotten used to it."

“Because it’s in black-and-white and because the camera wobbles, everybody thinks, Wow, this is for real, man, and all the time it was obviously set up … It’s so far removed from what actually goes on."

—on the supposed documentary

film Cocksucker Blues

“I used to pose in front of the mirror at home. I was hopeful. The only thing I was lacking was a bit of bread to buy an instrument. But I got the moves off first, and I got the guitar later."

“I try to feel ecstatic, and look ecstatic all the time."

“Guys that don’t really know me, they’re more likely to be the child of my image. Chasing an image is a dangerous game."

—on the early death of Johnny

Thunders, Keith impersonator

“It’s very easy to end up being a parody of yourself."

“One Most Likely to Kick the Bucket … I held that position for several years … Sid Vicious beat me to it. Loads of others. That shows how wrong the charts can be."

INDEPENDENCE

“The minute you pay somebody to take care of [your image and independence] you might as well kiss it off. It’s like buyin’ a facade, you’re not actually buying protection. You’re buying what people think."

INDIVIDUALITY and IDENTITY

“I’ve desperately tried to remain anonymous. The state the world is in today, it’s much more of an advantage to remain anonymous than it is to be identifiable or recognized."

“Because everybody has a different idea of who Mick Jagger is, he’s confused himself now as to who he actually is … It’s a tremendous hassle to keep Mick in reality because he is so easily influenced." (SEE ALSO MICK)

“I had to stop doing Chuck Berry and start doing Keith Richards."

“Just be yourself is all I can say, the rest of it’s a fucking joke."

“When I could play something, it was an added bright thing to my life. ‘I’ve got that, if nothing else.’ ”

“I ain’t gonna live in the box people want to put me in. That’s their trip, not mine."

“The point is—who are you?"

“You’ve gotta be cool with yourself. If you’ve gotta think about being cool, you ain’t cool."

“John Doe. There is no such person. There’s no such thing as Mr.

Average. Everybody’s who they are. Feel it. Stay in touch with it."

“I can never remain anonymous—that’s the reason why I’ve been picked up by the police so many times."

INNER DEMONS

“My policy is to identify one and deal with that."

“There is a demon in me, but I only own up to having one of them. Brian probably had forty-five … He was so self-important, maybe because he was so short."

“[Brian] had so many hang-ups he didn’t know where to hang himself … So he drowned himself."

“Probably nobody knows how many demons they’ve got."

“There’s a demon in everybody. It’s the trying to express it—there’s a dark piece in