Top 44 Rufus Wainwright Quotes

I made the decision to take on board the critical feedback. Reviews are something you can easily ignore as a performer or writer but I chose to not ignore them here and I think that I benefited. I think I’m stronger for it – and I have a tougher skin as a result.

You get to a certain age, and you feel the need to reward yourself just for existing.

I am ridiculously high-maintenance.

I love being not cool.

I think everybody identified at a pretty young age that I was fairly entranced with myself. And that I had to be tempered.

I wish I could just relax sometimes and make some money, but I always feel like I have to prove some kind of big, profound point.

I’ve paid the price; I definitely have a reputation that precedes me, and there is a camp that plots my demise. But then again… it’s funner that way.

You know the question: ‘How do you get to Carnegie Hall?’ Answer: ‘Practise?’ Well, in my case, I got there by not practising. I didn’t finish my music degree. And when I got into the pop world, I decided not to conform because I figured that the point of being an artist was that you shouldn’t be like anyone else.

When it comes to sitting down and composing, there is no hesitation, no concern, no critics breathing fire down my neck. For me, writing a song is the purest part of all. No one can mess with that.

Looking back, one of the things I love most about my mom was that she never, ever relented. She stuck to her guns right up until the end. She wasn’t abusive, but she was never that thrilled that I was gay.

Let the little fairy in you fly!

To me, songs come of their own volition – and with an open-ended philosophy.

Arguably, the relationship between Liza Minnelli and Judy Garland is one of the great mother-daughter sagas of all time. Certainly, for certain people, and a lot of them, Liza is the bigger star. Liza is the more kind of viable legend, shall we say. Then there’s the other camp, where Judy is the one.

I’m hyper light-sensitive and must sleep in the equivalent of a sealed tomb.

Every video I do is over budget by the time I walk on set. I am massively extravagant in my personal habits.

There’s no life without humour. It can make the wonderful moments of life truly glorious, and it can make tragic moments bearable.

In retrospect, I’m really shocked at how far I put my heart out there on the line with ‘Prima Donna’. I seem to have this knack for being able to accomplish that.

I should write a musical. That is probably one of the final areas that I should pay attention to, because it does kind of involve everything. It’s got theatre, it’s got young, pretty people… And it’s got money!

I have managed to eke out a good and substantial existence. I’m not shoveling gold bricks or anything, but I do very, very well.

I’ve developed into quite a swan. I’m one of those people that will probably look better and better as I get older until I drop dead of beauty.

For better or worse, I’ve always been curious musically. Whether it’s opera or Judy Garland or pop, I’ve deliberately sought those things out. I’ve never wanted to do the same things over and over. Some think I’ve accomplished what I set out to do, and others consider me a dilettante.

I’m definitely a fan of juxtaposition. Using the most beautiful line to say the most horrific thing – I think one of the main things in songwriting is definitely friction between the words and the melody.

I want to carve out a serious period of time to focus on the next opera without any distractions. And to do that you need money.

I’m not born again, I’m not Kabbalah, God forbid, but I did have an experience hitting 30 that I needed to lean on something that assured me that everything is going to be okay. I had to regain a lot of my belief in fairy tales, in happy endings.

I still believe that love is the most powerful force in the world, even though I am yet to experience it fully.

I believe a lot of our lives are spent asleep, and what I’ve been trying to do is hold on to those moments when a little spark cuts through the fog and nudges you.

I have never cooked a meal in my life and always end up paying for dozens of people to eat with me.

I like to make the mundane fabulous whenever I can.

The moment something happens to one you love, it’s twenty times more intense. You experience pain and enlightenment on a much vaster scale.

The thing I hate most is false modesty. The artists who are, like, ‘Oh, you know, I’m really not that good. Oh, I can’t believe I’m here.’ I find it vaguely sinister, even.

I think I’ve done a pretty fantastic job, but of course I want to sell millions of records.

I’m very fit on tour. I try to eat well, try to sleep. But it’s still rock n’ roll.

I am under no illusion that I will ever be the greatest opera composer in the world, with Wagner and Verdi and Strauss before me. I think my work could fit very nicely into musicals, though.

Premiering a new opera is probably one of the hardest things in the world to do, and opening nights of any opera are always pretty stressful.

There is this church that I go to a lot in New York. I’m not religious but I love lighting candles and stuff. I find it useful.

I have earned hundreds of thousands of pounds, but I can’t seem to get to grips with money.

There’s prejudice everywhere. I don’t think the music industry is as bad as the movie industry. But I have taken a few hits over the years for my sexuality, and for being honest about my life. In the end, it’s the music that rules the roost.

One of the main destructive forces within our family has been these runaway egos. I think if you look at any show business family, that struggle exists.

I have an ounce of Lady Gaga’s full-bodied ambition.

Why be in music, why write songs, if you can’t use them to explore life or an idealized vision of life? I believe a lot of our lives are spent asleep, and what I’ve been trying to do is hold on to those moments when a little spark cuts through the fog and nudges you.

I’ve been thinking of trying my hand at rap. I’ve been recording snippets on my BlackBerry.

Life is a game and true love is a trophy.

New York is not the centre for American culture and art that it once was because of the forces of conservatism. Giuliani, capitalism – and then there was 9/11. I really believe that if I leave, it will suffer! Maybe that’s why I love it here, because I feel wanted.

Once illness strikes, you realize there’s not a lot of time for you to do what you really need to do. And there’s no time like the present.