Frank Sinatra Quotes

Alcohol

1. “Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the Bible says love your enemy.”

2. “I feel sorry for people that don't drink, because when they wake up in the morning, that is the best they are going to feel all day.” 

Romance

3. “I like intelligent women. When you go out, it shouldn't be a staring contest.”

4. “I'm supposed to have a PhD on the subject of women. But the truth is I've flunked more often than not. I'm very fond of women; I admire them. But, like all men, I don't understand them.”

5. “A simple I love you means more than money.”

6. “A man doesn't know what happiness is until he's married. By then it's too late.”

7. “For years I've nursed a secret desire to spend the Fourth of July in a double hammock with a swingin' redheaded broad ... but I could never find me a double hammock.”

8. “You treat a lady like a dame and a dame like a lady.”

9. “Never yawn in front of a lady.”

10. “I think being jilted is one of life's most painful experiences. It takes a long time to heal a broken heart. It's happened to all of us and never gets any easier. I understand, however, that playing one of my albums can help.”

Religion

11. “There are things about organised religion which I resent. Christ is revered as the Prince of Peace, but more blood has been shed in His name than any other figure in history. You show me one step forward in the name of religion and I’ll show you a hundred retrogressions.”

12. “I'm for decency – period. I'm for anything and everything that bodes love and consideration for my fellow man. But when lip service to some mysterious deity permits bestiality on Wednesday and absolution on Sunday – count me out.” 

13. “I’m not unmindful of man’s seeming need for faith; I’m for anything that gets you through the night, be it prayer, tranquilisers or a bottle of Jack Daniel’s.”

14. “I believe that God knows what each of us wants and needs. It's not necessary for us to make it to church on Sunday to reach Him. You can find Him anyplace.

15. “I believe in you and me. I'm like Albert Schweitzer and Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein in that I have a respect for life – in any form. I believe in nature, in the birds, the sea, the sky, in everything I can see or that there is real evidence for. If these things are what you mean by God, then I believe in God. But I don't believe in a personal God to whom I look for comfort or for a natural on the next roll of the dice.”

Life Lessons

16. “Cock your hat – angles are attitudes.”

17. “The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything.” 

18. “Fear is the enemy of logic. There is no more debilitating, crushing, self-defeating, sickening thing in the world – to an individual or to a nation.”

19. “Don’t hide your scars. They make you who you are.” 

20. “If you don’t know the guy on the other side of the world, love him anyway because he’s just like you. He has the same dreams, the same hopes and fears. It’s one world, pal. We’re all neighbours.”

21. “A friend is never an imposition.”

22. “I detest bad manners. If people are polite, I am. They shouldn't try to get away with not being polite to me.”

23. “Las Vegas is the only place I know that money really talks. It says, ‘Goodbye.’”

24. “A friend to me has no race, no class and belongs to no minority. My friendships were formed out of affection, mutual respect and a feeling of having something strong in common. These are eternal values that cannot be racially classified. This is the way I look at race.”

25. “People who make a living off other people's fortunes or misfortunes are parasites.”

26. “I've always had a theory that whenever guys and gals start swinging, they begin to lose interest in conquering the world. They just want a comfortable pad and stereo and wheels, and their thoughts turn to the good things of life – not to war. They loosen up, they live and they're more apt to let live.”

Critics

27. “The best revenge is massive success.”

28. “Don't get even, get mad.”

29. “Critics don’t bother me, because if I do badly, I know I’m bad before they even write it. And if I’m good, I know I’m good. I know best about myself, so a critic doesn’t anger me.”

30. “Don't tell me. Suggest. But don't tell me.”

31. “As you may know, I have many good friends in the press who, unfortunately, have thus far refused to identify themselves and go public.”

32. “Bad reviews I've gotten never diminished the number of people in my audience; good reviews have never added to the number of people in my audience; be your own critic.”

33. “Don't respond to negativity with more negativity. Just put your head down and prove your critics wrong.”

34. “Here's to the confusion of our enemies!”

Frank On Frank

35. “I'm not one of those complicated, mixed-up cats. I'm not looking for the secret to life ... I just go on from day to day, taking what comes.”

36. “People often remark that I'm pretty lucky. Luck is only important in so far as getting the chance to sell yourself at the right moment. After that, you've got to have talent and know how to use it.”

37. “What formula? I never had one, so I couldn't say what the main ingredient is. I think everybody who's successful in this business has one common ingredient – the talent God gave us. The rest depends upon how it's used.”

38. “Most of what has been written about me is one big blur, but I do remember being described in one simple word that I agree with. It was in a piece that tore me apart for my personal behaviour, but the writer said that when the music began and I started to sing, I was ‘honest.’”

39. “I don't know what other singers feel when they articulate lyrics, but being an 18-carat manic depressive and having lived a life of violent emotional contradictions, I have an over-acute capacity for sadness as well as elation.”

40. “I play to all people – all colours, all creeds, drunk, sober; everybody.”

41. “You've got to be on the ball from the minute you step out into that spotlight. You gotta know exactly what you're doing every second on that stage, otherwise the act goes right into the bathroom. It's all over. Good night.”

42. “What I do with my life is of my own doing. I live it the best way I can.”

Legacy

43. “You gotta love livin', baby, 'cause dyin' is a pain in the ass.”

44. “I would like to be remembered as a man who had a wonderful time living life, a man who had good friends, fine family – and I don't think I could ask for anything more than that, actually.”

45. “You only go around once, but if you play your cards right, once is enough.” 

46. “I want to be buried with a Zippo, a roll of dimes and a bottle of Jack.”

47. “It took me a long, long time to learn what I now know, and I don't want that to die with me.”

48. “Stay alive, stay active, and get as much practice as you can.”

49. [After the deaths of Sammy Davis Jr., Ava Gardner, Jilly Rizzo and Dean Martin] “I'm next. I ain't scared, either. Everybody I ever knew is already over there.”

50. “May you live to be 100 and may the last voice you hear be mine.”