Article image

14 Elvis Presley Quotes To Shake You Up

A swivel of the hip and a shake of the leg and the crowd goes wild. Girls scream, there’s fainting in the front row, and concerned parents are wondering what, exactly, is going on. Elvis is in town.

When Elvis Presley arrived on the scene in the mid-1950s, the music world changed forever. He brought a new sound and a new aesthetic to rock ‘n’ roll, influenced by blues, Christian gospel, and Southern country, and sung in his distinctive baritone voice with a three-octave range. His high-energy performances, meanwhile, sent his fans into a frenzy, while courting controversy among society’s more conservative elements.

Elvis was more than a singer, though. He soon became a cultural icon, whose sense of style ranged from a slick James Dean look (complete with signature quiff and sideburns), to outlandish diamond-studded jumpsuits that inspired the likes of Elton John. He was endlessly colorful and entertaining both on stage and off, belying his humble Memphis roots and the shyness he felt as a child.

In his personal life, Presley had his ups and downs, struggling with both drugs and his health (he had a well-documented love of peanut butter, bacon, and banana sandwiches). Still, his comeback concerts never failed to impress, and few doubted that he deserved the title of the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” As Leonard Bernstein once said, “Elvis is the greatest cultural force in the 20th century. He introduced the beat to everything, music, language, clothes, it’s a whole new social revolution.”

Here are 14 quotes from "The King" himself, covering everything from his famously provocative pelvis to his views on fame and fortune.

Some people tap their feet, some people snap their fingers, and some people sway back and forth. I just sorta do ‘em all together, I guess.

Share Quote

To judge a man by his weakest link or deed is like judging the power of the ocean by one wave.

Share Quote

The first time that I appeared on stage, it scared me to death. I really didn't know what all the yelling was about. I didn't realize that my body was moving. It's a natural thing to me. So to the manager backstage I said, “What'd I do? What'd I do?” And he said, “Whatever it is, go back and do it again.”

Share Quote

Just because I managed to do a little something, I don't want anyone back home to think I got the big head.

Share Quote

The image is one thing and the human being is another … it's very hard to live up to an image.

Share Quote

In public, I like real conservative clothes, something that's not too flashy. But onstage, I like ‘em as flashy as you can get ‘em.

Share Quote

Money's meant to be spread around. The more happiness it helps create, the more it’s worth. It's worthless as old cut-up paper if it just lies in a bank and grows there without ever having been used to help a body.

Share Quote

Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away.

Share Quote

I'm not a loner, I don't think. But I've got to admit. Sometimes I like just getting off by myself. You know. Just off somewhere alone. No crowds or anything. Where it's just peaceful. And quiet. And you can think.

Share Quote

I figure all any kid needs is hope and the feeling he or she belongs. If I could do or say anything that would give some kid that feeling, I would believe I had contributed something to the world.

Share Quote

Money can never buy everything your heart desires. It won't buy love, or health, or true happiness.

Share Quote

My momma taught me one thing right from the very beginning, and that's that everyone's got a right to his own opinion. I believe that. And I also believe that you can't make everyone like you.

Share Quote

I watch my audience and listen to them, and I know we are all getting something out of our system. None of us knows what it is. The important thing is that we’re getting rid of it and nobody’s getting hurt.

Share Quote

I've had a pretty good lesson in human nature. It’s more important to try to surround yourself with people who can give you a little happiness, because you only pass through this life once, Jack. You don’t come back for an encore.

Share Quote

Featured image credit: Allstar Picture Library Ltd./ Alamy Stock Photo

Author image
About the Author
Tony Dunnell
Tony is an English writer of non-fiction and fiction living on the edge of the Amazon jungle.
Play more header background
Play more icon
Daily Question
Who said, "Jump off the cliff and learn how to make wings on the way down"?

More Inspiration

happiness theme icon

Time is how you spend your love.

separator icon
Nick Laird
motivation theme icon

The meaning I picked, the one that changed my life: Overcome fear, behold wonder.

separator icon
Richard Bach
hope theme icon

When we sow a seed, we plant a narrative of future possibility.

separator icon
Sue Stuart-Smith
love theme icon

Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.

separator icon
Albert Camus
wisdom theme icon

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

separator icon
Ralph Waldo Emerson
happiness theme icon

Out of the wreck I rise.

separator icon
Robert Browning
motivation theme icon

Patience is a necessary ingredient of genius.

separator icon
Benjamin Disraeli
hope theme icon

My turn shall also come: I sense the spreading of a wing.

separator icon
Osip Mandelstam
love theme icon

I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.

separator icon
Sarah Williams
wisdom theme icon

The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.

separator icon
Edward Gibbon
happiness theme icon

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

separator icon
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry