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QUITTING

“The last time? … Why the fuck should this be the last time? What else are we going to do? Get a job in an ad agency?"

“Yes, and the next five."

—when asked if this is the last tour

RACE

“Probably we all come from Africa. We just went north and turned white."

“If you cut anybody open, bones is white and blood is red, man … Ancient marrow responding to the source. All it points out is the superficiality of racial differences."

“To me, the other side of the tracks is where I can really rest."

“I like hanging out with black people. It’s so much easier. They think I’m one anyway, I’m just in disguise."

“I’ve always felt that there’s a slight racial bias … If I was black, nobody would go on about how old I was. They’d say, ‘Wonderful that he’s still going.’ They wouldn’t go on about thinning hairlines and wrinkles and all that crap."

REBELLION

“I think a lot of this ‘rebel’ thing has been brought up by people thinking too much about it. People like you come up to us and say, ‘Are you rebels?’ The answer is no."

REGRET

“I don’t regret nothin’."

“The one thing I don’t wanna do is quit early and then sit around for the rest of my life wondering what would have happened had I carried on. That would be a regret and I don’t like them."

“I know I didn’t do nothin’ wrong."

RELIGION and SPIRITUALITY

“If you’re looking for a guru, forget it—they find you, you don’t find them."

“A guru looks for his fucking apprentice. One day somebody’ll tap me on the shoulder and it’ll be a bloke in a turban saying, ‘You!’ and until that happens, I’ll forget it. You know, I’ve too much else to take care of."

“I am quite proud that I never did go and kiss the Maharishi’s goddamn feet, you know."

“If someone is involved in what’s going on around them, they aren’t gonna get caught up by a bunch of Indian hustlers."

“I have to draw the line at swamis."

“I read the Bible sometimes, but it bores me to death. I just want to know what other people find so bloody fascinating. Why are they all hung up on all that ‘In the beginning’ stuff? Ah, well. At least life is stable. It has said the same thing since I was a kid."

“Spirit is all around me. Very much. But mine is a very nebulous spirituality. I wouldn’t care to put a name on it. I don’t want to place any bets. [game-show-host voice] ‘Oh, you picked the wrong god. Sorry, it’s Allah.’ ”

“Religion is like Las Vegas. Placing bets on something. I prefer to take the larger point of view. Hey, give thanks and praises, whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever you are."

“We’re the only form of life on this planet that needs religion, that will actually kill each other over some abstract idea."

(SEE ALSO ART)

“He never rehearses."

—on God (whom he claims joins the band

onstage via rain, wind, and snow)

“I love God. But I hate preachers."

“Leave that stuff at home when you come to see me."

—regarding people who

continuously talk about God

REPUTATION

“I’ll gladly hand the title over to someone else. I’ll even put an ad in the paper: NEW DRUG SCAPEGOAT REQUIRED FOR POSITION OF INTERNA-TIONAL FAME. It’s all yours, buster."

“Of course I’m concerned about his reputation. I’m trying to save his reputation."

—regarding Mick’s accusations that

Keith was jealous of the reputation

he earned from his knighthood

“You drag your whole life behind you."

“Even though that was nearly twenty years ago, you cannot convince some people that I’m not a mad drug addict. So I’ve still got [that image] in my baggage."

“You tend to drag around your reputation as a kind of ball and chain—a long shadow."

THE RIDICULOUS and the SUBLIME

“You try saying twenty-five times, ‘Guilty, your honour,’ and keep a straight face."

THE ROAMING LIFE

“You can travel and move and still keep a family together. Otherwise there wouldn’t have been gypsies and nomads."

“I don’t think a constant hands-on thing with families is necessary, as long as you know where the heart lies. They can always find