Johny Cash was a well-known country singer and artist since the 1950s with the best-selling musician of all time. He was a singer, songwriter, musician, and actor.
Johny Cash played country, blues, gospel songs, and rock and roll with lyrics of love, God, religion, injustice, suffering, pain, and despair. This Johny Cash quotes consists of his saying about life, reality, God, and life.
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Johny Cash
Johny Cash was born on February 26, 1932, in Arkansas to Claire Cloveree and Ray Cash. His family condition was very poor and worked in the cotton field with them since the age of five.
Cash was grown up in a Christian community and culture and was hugely influenced by the teaching of Christ. When he met Elvis Presley in the studio first time with Carl Perkins and Jerry Lewis they started the jam session which lasted for hours and was released under the title Million Dollar Quartet.
Cash got into excessive drug and substance addiction in the 1950s. He came into various controversies and had to pay fines to the state for breaking the law on numerous occasions. Whatever the situation no one got the sign as he was a great performer and artist on stage.
Johny Cash gave voice to the protest of American Indians with his controversial album “Bitter Tears: Ballads Of The American Indian.” This album was all about the long-suffered injustice and violence against American Indians by outside settlers. Most of the protest songs were written by Peter La Farge who was active in the movement.
Johny Cash starred in his own television show, The Johny Cash Show,” He performed consecutive four concerts at New Mexico State Fair, on September 15-18, 1969 organized in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Johny Cash was given the nickname, “The Man In Black.” He stated: I wore these black for the poor and hungry people who are victims of injustice, inequity, and against conducts of dominance and the people abusing their power.
Johny Cash Songs
Cash grew up in a very struggling economic condition during his childhood. Moving to Memphis, Tennessee in search of a career was the turning point in his life.
Cash released his first song with Philips in late June titled “Hey Porter,” “Cry! Cry! Cry!,” in 1955. He signed a contract with Suns giving hits like “Folsom Prison Blues,” which made the country top five with “I Walk The Line,” going to the top on the country chart in 1956.
Cash signed with Columbia Records in 1958, producing the hit single “Don’t Take Your Guns To Town.” He recorded many gospel songs for Columbia and simultaneously Suns were releasing his singles which he left to Phillips.
In 1964m Cash recorded the album “Bitter Tears: Ballads Of American Indian,” showing the pain and violence Indians had to endure and tolerate. The album consists of songs like the Pima, Navajo, Lakota, Seneca, and Cherokee.
Johny Cash Museum
House of Cash was the original museum honoring the life and work of Johny Cash opened in 1970. Though the museum was in the same town as his home, in Hendersonville, Tenessee he never lived there. The museum’s condition worsened and was closed in 2002.
Cash’s friend Shannon and Bill Miller contributed their collections of memorabilia for the current Johny Cash museum in Nashville opened to the public in 2013.
Johny Cash museum is 18000square feet and remains open except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Museum has various attractions like a coffee shop, gift shop, and space to organize various events like weddings, meetings, and banquets.
Johny Cash Quotes
Johny was given the name “The Man In Black,” at the beginning of his career as he preferred a black wardrobe. Cash was enlisted in the Gospel Music Hall Of Fame, the Country Music Hall Of Fame, the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, and the Nashville songwriters Hall Of Fame.
Johny Cash’s life has been through a lot that one can handle, struggle in childhood, fame, then addiction, prison, health concern, fame, love, and activity in a social cause. Here are some of the Johny Cash sayings about life, god, religion, and thoughts in the following quotes.
Johny Cash Quotes About Family
1. “My father was a man of love. He always loved me to death. He worked hard in the fields, but my father never hit me. Never. I don’t ever remember a really cross, unkind word from my father.”
2. “My mother told me to keep on singing, and that kept me working through the cotton fields. She said God has his hand on you. You’ll be singing for the world someday.”
3. “My mother always told me that any talent is a gift of God and I always believed it. If I quit, I would just live in front of the television and get fat and die pretty soon.”
4. “When I was a baby, my mama told me, son, always be a good boy, don’t ever play with guns. But I shot a man in Reno.”
5. “My daddy left home when I was three and he didn’t leave much to Ma and me, just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.”
Johny Cash Quotes On Thought
6. “I’m very shy really. I spend a lot of time in my room alone reading or writing or watching television.”
7. “What have I become, my sweetest friend. Everyone I know goes away, in the end.”
8. “Sometimes I am two people. Johnny is the nice one. Cash causes all the trouble. They fight.”
9. “I like to sit on the front porch of an old cabin I built in the woods and just listen to the birds; I like to fish in the pond and I always throw the fish back.”
10. “Those that have lived longer than we always have something to teach us, that we can take with us for the rest of our lives.”
11. “I’m thankful for the sea breeze that feels so good right now, and the scent of jasmine when the sun starts going down.”
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Johny Cash Quotes About God
Cash collaborated with Billy Graham to produce the movie about the life of Jesus, Gospel Road: A Story Of Jesus. He was the co-writer and narrator of the movie.
Johny and June would frequently appear in Billy Graham Crusade TV special where he recited gospel and religious songs. Here are some of the famous Johny Cash quotes on God.
12. “God gives us life and takes us away as he sees fit.”
13. “The things that have always been important: to be a good man, to try to live my life the way God would have me, to turn it over to Him that His will might be worked in my life, to do my work without looking back, to give it all I’ve got, and to take pride in my work as an honest performer.”
14. “If you don’t get outside every day, even for a minute, you have not appreciated what God has done. It makes you grateful for our surroundings, and it starts your day differently.”
15. “No matter how much you’ve sinned, no matter how much you’ve stumbled, no matter how much you fall, no matter how far you’ve got from God, don’t give up. You can still be redeemed. As someone says, keep the faith.”
16. “Life is the question and life is the answer, and God is the reason and love is the way.”
17. “I read novels but I also read the Bible. And study it, you know? And the more I learn, the more excited I get.”
18. “We’ll all be equal under the grass, and God’s got a heaven for country trash.”
19. “I have tried drugs and a little of everything else, and there is nothing in the world more soul-satisfying than having the kingdom of God building inside you and growing.”
20. “There is a spiritual side to me that goes real deep, but I confess right up front that I’m the biggest sinner of them all.”
21. “God ain’t no stained glass window, cause he never keeps his window closed.”
Johny Cash Quotes About Life
Many ups and downs with many more troubles and struggles with the self-taught him many life lessons where he has to pay for some and bear for some. Here are some of the sayings on life by Johny Cash that is very useful.
22. “I learn from my mistakes and it’s a very painful way to learn. But without pain, the old saying is. There’s no gain.”
23. “I took the easy way, and to an extent, I regret that. Still, though, the way we did it was honest. We played it and sang it the way we felt it, and there’s a lot to be said for that.”
24. “Life is rough so you gotta be tough.”
25. “The beer and the wurst were wonderful, but I was dying to be back in the South, where the livin’ was easy, where the fish were jumping, where the cotton grew high.”
26. “I’m not really concerned about boundaries. I just follow my conscience and my heart. Follow your heart. That’s what I do. Compassion is something I have a lot of because I’ve been through a lot of pain in my life. Anybody who has suffered a lot of pain has a lot of compassion.”
27. “A person knows when it just seems to feel right to them. Listen to your heart.”
28. “There’s no way around grief and loss: you can dodge all you want, but sooner or later you just have to go into it, through it, and, hopefully, come out the other side. The world you find there will never be the same as the world you left.”
29. “All your life, you will be faced with a choice. You can choose love or hate… I choose love.”
30. I’m not bitter. Why should I be bitter? I’m thrilled to death with life.”
31. “How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man.”
32. “The battle against the dark one and the clinging to the right one is what my life is about.”
33. “I love the freedoms we got in this country, I appreciate your freedom to burn your flag if you want to, but I really appreciate my right to bear arms so I can shoot you if you try to burn mine.”
Famous Johny Cash Quotes
Here are some of the famous sayings by Johny Cash about himself and society.
34. “People call me wild. Not really though, I’m not. I guess I’ve never been normal, not what you call an Establishment. I’m country.”
36. “If you aren’t gonna say exactly how and what you feel, you might as well not say anything at all.”
37. “Burn my Flag and I will shoot you……..but I’ll shoot you with a lot of love, like a good American.”
38. “It makes me so mad that some people underestimate the wisdom and energy of young people. All because they don’t look the way older folks think they should look. I’m working on a song about it. Maybe some of those closed-minded people will realize long hair and tattoos don’t mean they should be ignored. Close-minded people are part of what’s wrong with this world.”
39. “The ones that you’re calling wild are going to be the leaders in a little while.”
40. “Money can’t buy back your youth when you’re old, a friend when you’re lonely, or peace to your soul.”
Johny Cash Quotes About Country Music
41. “Of emotions, of love, of a breakup, of love and hate and death and dying, mama, apple pie, and the whole thing. It covers a lot of territories, country music does.”
42. “That was the big thing when I was growing up, singing on the radio. The extent of my dream was to sing on the radio station in Memphis. Even when I got out of the Air Force in 1954, I came right back to Memphis and started knocking on doors at the radio station.”
43. “I am not a Christian artist, I am an artist who is a Christian.”
44. “I love to go to the studio and stay there 10 or 12 hours a day. I love it. What is it? I don’t know. It’s life.”
45. “It’s like a novelist writing far out things. If it makes a point and makes sense, then people like to read that. But if it’s off in left field and goes over the edge, you lose it. The same with musical talent, I think.”
46. “I could wrap myself in the warm cocoon of a song and go anywhere.”
47. “I knew I wanted to sing when I was a very small boy. When I was probably 4 years old. My mother played a guitar and I would sit with her and she would sing and I learned to sing along with her.”
48. “When I think about country music, I think about America.”
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Johny Cash Quotes About Trust
49. “Everything I have and everything I do is now given completely to Jesus Christ.”
50. “There’s a lot of things blamed on me that never happened. But then, there’s a lot of things that I did that I never got caught at.”
51. “Beneath the stains of time the feeling disappears, you are someone else I am still right here.”
52. “If you aren’t gonna say exactly how and what you feel, you might as well not say anything at all.”
Johny Cash Bible Quotes
53. “And I’d be dead, but by God’s grace Drive on, don’t mean nothin’ My children love me, but they don’t understand And I got a woman who knows her man Drive on, don’t mean nothin’, drive on.”
54. “Gospel music is so ingrained into my bones. I can’t do a concert without singing a gospel song. It’s what I was raised on.”
55. “Hardin wouldn’t run.”
56. “The gospel of Christ must always be an open door with a welcome sign for all.”
57. “The Master of Lifes been good to me. He has given me the strength to face past illnesses, and victory in the face of defeat. He has given me life and joy where others saw oblivion. He Has given a new purpose to live for, new services to render, and old wounds to heal. Life and love go on, let the music play.”
58. “Jesus will not fail me, I shall not be moved.”
59. “I wear black because I’m comfortable in it. But then in the summertime when it’s hot I’m comfortable in light blue.”
60. “I wear this crown of thorns Upon my liar’s chair Full of broken thoughts I cannot repair Beneath the stains of time The feelings disappear You are someone else I am still right here What have I become My sweetest friend?”
61. “Deep in the heart of the infinite darkness, a tiny blue marble is spinning through space. Born in the splendor of God’s holy vision, and sliding away like a tear down his face.”
62. “If you’re going to be a Christian, you’re going to change. You’re going to lose some old friends, not because you want to, but because you need to.”
Johny Cash Quotes About Song Writing
63. “They’re powerful. Those songs. At times they’ve been my only way back. The only door out of the dark. And places the black dog calls home.”
64. “When I record somebody else’s song, I have to make it my own or it doesn’t feel right. I’ll say to myself, I wrote this and he doesn’t know it!”
65. “I love songs about horses, railroads, land, Judgment Day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak and love. And Mother. And God.”
66. “I start a lot more songs than I finish because I realize when I get into them, they’re no good. I don’t throw them away, I just put them away, store them, get them out of sight.” – Johny Cash
67. “You’ve got a song you’re singing from your gut, you want that audience to feel it in their gut. And you’ve got to make them think that you’re one of them sitting out there with them too. They’ve got to be able to relate to what you’re doing.”
68. “Creative people have to be fed from the divine source. I have to get fed. I had to get filled up in order to pour out.”
Motivational Johny Cash Quotes
69. “You have to be what you are. Whatever you are, you gotta be it.”
70. “It’s good to know who hates you and it is good to be hated by the right people.”
71. “A rose looks grey at midnight, but the flame is just asleep. And steel is strong because it knows the hammer and white heat.”
72. “You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on them. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.”
73. “When my wife died, I booked myself into the studio just to work, to occupy myself.”
74. “It’s good to believe in yourself, but there are people out there who can make or break you.”
75. “Success is having to worry about every damn thing in the world, except money.”
76. “You’ve got to know your limitations. I don’t know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren’t too many limitations if I did it my way.”
77. “You miss a lot of opportunities by making mistakes, but that’s part of it: knowing that you’re not shut out forever and that there’s a goal you still can reach.”
78. “I found out that there weren’t too many limitations if I did it my way.”
Johny Cash Quotes About Love
In the summer of 1951, Cash met his first love, Vivian Liberto, at the roller rink in San Antonio, Texas, and married her after serving in the army for four years. In late 1960 they were divorced and were separated.
Cash met June Carter who was also the distant relative of Jimmy Carter who publicly announced in one of the speeches. June and Johny were made for each other and they live a life full of ups and downs till death.
79. “This morning, with her, having coffee.”
80. “Flesh and blood needs flesh and blood, and you’re the one I need.”
81. “For you I know I’d even try to turn the tide.”
82. “Happiness is being at peace, being with loved ones, being comfortable…but most of all, it’s having those loved ones.”
83. “I keep a close watch on this heart of mine I keep my eyes wide open all the time I keep the ends out for the tie that binds Because you’re mine, I walk the line.”
84. “Six foot six he stood on the ground He weighed two hundred and thirty-five pounds But I saw that giant of a man brought down To his knees by love.”
85. “Stop your ears and close your eyes and try to find the face of love.”
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Johny Cash Quotes About June Carter
Johny Cash and June Carter met at the state in 1955, after thirteen years of relationship, Cash proposed to June on stage and got married.
June was not only his wife, but his friend, manager, and partner who took care of his delinquency and misconduct. Here are some of the quotes on June Carter by Johny Cash.
86. “There’s unconditional love there. You hear that phrase a lot but it’s real with me and her [June Carter]. She loves me in spite of everything, in spite of myself. She has saved my life more than once. She’s always been there with her love, and it has certainly made me forget the pain for a long time, many times. When it gets dark and everybody’s gone home and the lights are turned off, it’s just me and her.”
87. “She’s the greatest woman I have ever known. Nobody else, except my mother, comes close.”
Johny Cash Quotes On Black Outfit
88. “I was wearing black clothes almost from the beginning. I feel comfortable in black. I felt like black looked good onstage, that it was attractive, so I started wearing it all the time.”
89. “When I was arrested I was dressed in black.”
90. “I wore black because I liked it. I still do, and wearing it still means something to me. It’s still my symbol of rebellion — against a stagnant status quo, against our hypocritical houses of God, against people whose minds are closed to others’ ideas.”
91. “I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town, I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime But is there because he’s a victim of the times. I wear the black for those who never read.”
92. “Everybody was wearing rhinestones, all those sparkly clothes, and cowboy boots. I decided to wear a black shirt and pants and see if I could get by with it. I did and I’ve worn black clothes ever since.”
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Famous Johnny Cash quotes about Elvis
93. “However, neither he nor anyone else could have become the star Elvis was. Ain’t nobody like Elvis. Never was.”
94. “Somehow there’s been an immediate bonding between total strangers. We share each other’s triumphs, and when one of us gets hurt, we all bleed – it’s corny, I know, but it’s true.”
95. “We’re all in this together if we’re in it at all.” – Johny Cash
96. “God’s the final judge for Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash too. That’s solely in the hands of God.”
One Liner Johny Cash Quotes For Instagram
97. “I Walk the Line” – Johny Cash Quotes
98. “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.”
99. “You’re so heavenly minded, you’re no earthly good.”
100. “When God forgave me, I figured I’d better do it too.”
101. “My arms are too short to box with God.”
102. “Life and love go on, let the music play.”
103. “Loneliness is emptiness but happiness is you.”
104. “Until things are brighter.. I’m the man in black.”
105. “There’s no more simple life with simple choices for the young.” – Johny Cash Quotes
106. “If this were a movie I’d be the bad guy.” – Johny Cash Quotes
107. “The beast in me Is caged by frail and fragile bars.” – Johny Cash Quotes
108. “All music comes from God.” – Johny Cash Quotes
109. “Convicts are the best audience I ever played for.” – Johny Cash Quotes
Johny Cash was a complete artist as a singer, writer, and actor. He was also socially active in his community to stop injustice and save the youth from drugs. These are some sayings of Johny Cash on what his life has taught him and what he had learned.
