Quotes By Billy Corgan

In a weird kind of way, music has afforded me an idealism and perfectionism that I could never attain as me.

I never wanted to leave the Smashing Pumpkins. That was never the plan.

I do not think wrestling is going to save the world.

I'm a really honest person.

Like any good tree that one would hope to grow, we must set our roots deep into the ground so that what is real will prosper in the Light of Love.

The ideology of the Smashing Pumpkins was ultimately more valuable than the music of the Smashing Pumpkins. That's what critics can't put their finger on.

I think rock & roll has prepared me for a lot of flexibility.

As a citizen of the great city of Chicago, I find it impossible to root against the White Sox. The White Sox organization has been much more consistent, in my lifetime at least, at putting a winning ballclub on the field.

You know Americans are obsessed with life and death and rebirth, that's the American Cycle. You know, awakening, tragic, horrible death and then Phoenix rising from the ashes. That's the American story, again and again.

There's a difference between being a poseur and being someone who's so emotionally challenged they're kind of just doing their best to show you what they've got.

For someone who's had the level of success I've had, there's been very little critical review of my work, which is pretty fascinating.

I've seen foreigners really shift on their view of America, and that's hard for me to take.

I don't have any sentimental notion about how people are going to remember me.

Rock and Roll is still asking people like me to live up to the old guard's concept of what success is but it doesn't mean anything.

I was brought up Roman Catholic. I'm not even baptized.

There's a lot of days where you feel forgotten.

Where is this great love for rock and roll that existed for 50 or 60 years?

I'm a bit weird.

In the beginning, though, I have to admit that I did have a chip on my shoulder. I did want to prove everyone wrong. But after I went through the process and came out the other side, it wasn't about anyone else.

Rock & roll is not about what you play, it's about how you play it.

Music is your guide.

What most people do is try to find a comfortable persona that they're in alignment with and the public likes and appreciates them for.

To me, it's the folly of man to make God human.

When you actually like each other, it translates to the music.

I always thought Kurt Cobain was the perfect embodiment of the great alternative guitar player.

It's a simple formula for me now, I don't play any song I don't want to play.

I lay a lot of blame at the feet of Dusty Baker for not being more strict about fundamentals, which I think would give the team a stronger day-to-day identity.

I want people to see me happy.

I was part of a generation that changed the world, and it was taken over by posers.

A good artist is willing to die many times over. What's funny is, I've died so many times.