Quotes

[to Jesse Eisenberg, after Eisenberg's The Social Network (2010) and Rio (2011) came out]: Congratulations on everything man; you're handling all the success with a great deal of pride. And the way you carry yourself in public- it's impressive to watch you. Just keep your head up and enjoy the ride; it's going to be fun. You're going to have a long career.

(On writing songs that involve the military ) If you're familiar with 'Some Gave All ' you know that there's a break in the middle and you could hear Boom, Boom, Boom. I extended the pause on out to eight, to sixteen, just holding it out until a soldier said, 'Keep going, Mister Cyrus. We're used to it.'

I've tried setting appointments to write songs at a specific time, but I've never had any luck with that whatsoever. A lot of great songwriters make their living doing that. Unfortunately, I have to be living it and going through it. I use the word 'unfortunately' because a lot of my songs are sad, you know?

Country music will always be about heart, soul, and real life. I'll go with the philosophies of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Carl Perkins. Each of those three great legends gave me the same advice at different times. Each one said, "Cyrus, stay true to your music. And be real. Be who you are. Don't be chasing trends. Don't be chasing what's the next thing that's going on. Just be real".

I still think you gotta be in the union. It's a great move of solidarity, and if you're not it will inevitably come back to haunt you.

Today you can build a worldwide following off the Internet, and that's a game changer. This is a great time for music. Anything you can think about, musically, you can do. It's a wonderful thing.

[on Miley Cyrus] How many interviews did I give and say, 'You know what's important between me and Miley is I try to be a friend to my kids'? I said it a lot. And sometimes I would even read other parents might say, 'You don't need to be a friend, you need to be a parent.' Well, I'm the first guy to say to them right now: You were right. I should have been a better parent. I should have said, 'Enough is enough-it's getting dangerous and somebody's going to get hurt.' I should have, but I didn't. Honestly, I didn't know the ball was out of bounds until it was way up in the stands somewhere.

[on Hannah Montana (2006)] Oh, it's huge-it destroyed my family. I'll tell you right now-the damn show destroyed my family. And I sit there and go, 'Yeah, you know what? Some gave all.' It is my motto, and guess what? I have to eat that one. I some-gave-all'd it all right. I some-gave-all'd it while everybody else was going to the bank. It's all sad.

[on Mulholland Drive (2001)] Were it not for David Lynch, Miley would never have been Hannah Montana... I love him-he changed my life... I did feel a little bit dark. I remember feeling, 'This might not be what God had in mind.

[on wishing Hannah Montana (2006) never happened] I hate to say it, but yes, I do. Yeah. I'd take it back in a second. For my family to be here and just be everybody okay, safe and sound and happy and normal, would have been fantastic. Heck, yeah. I'd erase it all in a second if I could.

If my kids take anything from my life, it's: Be everything that you want to be. But most of all, be a good person.