Simon Cowell quotes:

For the music business, social networking is brilliant. Just when you think it's doom and gloom and you have to spend millions of pounds on marketing and this and that, you have this amazing thing now called fan power. The whole world is linked through a laptop. It's amazing. And it's free. I love it. It's absolutely brilliant.

When I was young and we got caught pinching apples, we got a smack from the local policeman. Today if that happened he would be sued. There is a tendency to punish the victim, not the criminal. If someone broke into my house or my mum's house, I worry that the burglar has more rights than me.

I don't have sophisticated tastes. I have average tastes. If you looked in my collection of DVDs, you'd see 'Jaws' and 'Star Wars.' In the book library, you'd see John Grisham and Sidney Sheldon. And if you look in my fridge, it's, like, children's food - chips, milkshakes, yogurt.

I want people to understand that from the minute Lady Gaga arrived, she created a new set of rules: being different is good; embrace it.

I'd say the most dangerous thing I've ever done is probably bungee jumping in Thailand.

I was bought an electric guitar when I was 12, but my guitar teacher beat me up. I didn't like guitar lessons and I got quite bored. My teacher was obviously bored giving me lessons, and one day I offered him a liquorice toffee, but he didn't answer. So I threw it at him, it hit him in the face, and he sort of beat me up.

I have always hated celebrities lecturing people on politics.

Money brings you security and choice. You can make decisions in a different way if you have a lot of money. But when you have nothing, you have a naivety, and a more fearless attitude because you have nothing to lose.

When you're making a reality show, you can't even plan a week ahead now.

My proudest achievement has been the success of the shows and artists I have been involved with, because they were made in Britain.

My dad said to me, 'Work hard and be patient.' It was the best advice he ever gave me. You have to put the hours in.

I have total respect for anyone who discovers a band like Snow Patrol. I would be hopeless at signing a rock band, or anything alternative, cause I don't know what that audience are into and I don't particularly like that kind of music.

The end of the animal trade would leave more time to trap or beat to death pop star wannabes.

I've never bought a Dylan record. A singing poet? It just bores me to tears. I've got to tell you, if I had 10 Dylans in the final of 'American Idol,' we would not be getting 30 million viewers a week. I don't believe the Bob Dylans of this world would make 'American Idol 'a better show.

If I said to most of the people who auditioned, 'Good job, awesome, well done,' it would have made me actually look and feel ridiculous. It's quite obvious most of the people who turned up for this audition were hopeless.

I break up very well. I am a good breaker-upper.

Thank God kids love following an artist. When you get a group who pop, it's the best thing in the world.

I love producing shows. And so when you're on a show where other people are making decisions you don't necessarily agree with it, after a while you start to feel like a passenger.

If I go into a relationship with an artist, which at most is going to last five years, we have a 100-page contract covering every eventuality. Whereas with marriage you go into it with no contract, with laws that date back hundreds of years, and I don't think that's right.

In TV, film, and music there's a lot of snobbery, and I don't like it. I've never been a cultural snob.

The object of this competition is not to be mean to the losers but to find a winner. The process makes you mean because you get frustrated.

It's the government's job to encourage entrepreneurialism and investment. Most importantly, it's the government's duty to inspire confidence.

The love I have for my ex-girlfriends will always be there, so I think that's true love.

The secret of my success is that I make other people money. And, never ever, ever, ever be ashamed about trying to earn as much as possible for yourself, if the person you're working with is also making money. That's life!

I've spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on the very best security and I can assure you my homes are as safe as the Bank of England.

I could just sit back and get someone to spin my achievements, I suppose, but when I see others do it, I always think, 'Why are you telling me how successful you are?' I am always suspicious of those kinds of boasts.

I hated school, but I love work.

I was never given any hand-outs. I started at the bottom and was very good at finding people who knew more than me and learning from them.

Anything I shouldn't laugh at makes me laugh. I mean, I'm bad at that, when somebody is singing something terribly and I'm thinking to myself, 'If I laugh now, this is the absolute worst thing I could ever do,' and then I start laughing and I can't stop.

There was nothing I could - and wanted to - learn in school. It was just a complete waste of my time.

You know what the secret to weight loss is? Don't eat much.

Holding auditions in front of an audience is testing.

I love TV. I love being behind the scenes on a TV show but there's something about, I don't know there's something very special when you've signed an artist and that first record comes in and it's a good record. It is an indescribable feeling.

When you get your first pay cheque, it's the best feeling in the world.

There's no need for me to get married. I live with someone; we're happy; end of story.

I think of stress as the creator of cancer and heart attacks, like a tiny little ball you feed. I believe that one of the reasons I've never got ill is that I'm not stressed.

I am quite miserable because I'm never satisfied with what I've got. You're always looking for that next high, and that is what I would define as happiness.

Not everybody is perfect, and I don't think we should be looking for perfect people.

When I look at it now, the whole punk thing is sort of comedy in a weird way.

People confuse ego, lust, insecurity with true love.

No one really has any job security anymore, including myself.

My attitude is, if someone's going to criticize me, tell me to my face.

I like to know why a video has suddenly gone viral, why a song has broken, why a TV show is suddenly rating out of pattern... I'm pretty good at understanding why things are becoming popular.

Most things in music go full circle eventually.

As an actor, I really like Philip Seymour Hoffman. I think he's a genius.

What I would argue in my defence is that shows like 'Britain's Got Talent' and 'The X Factor' have actually got people more interested in music again and are sending more people into record stores.

The minute you start assuming that the audience is very happy to see the same show again, you're dead.

I like spaghetti bolognese, I like baked beans on toast. I hate French food. I hate fancy food.

I hate belongings. I hate clutter. It really bothers me because I can't think properly. If you've got distractions in front of you, your mind goes nuts.

My heart, my lungs, my blood - they've all been checked. I remember one of the doctors almost being disappointed when he showed me the results because he couldn't wait to tell me what smoking was doing to me. But there was nothing there.

Beyonce is good-looking. Jennifer Lopez is good-looking. Madonna used to be good-looking.

Have I got a black book? Yes, it's called a mobile phone. I do get offers. There is no shortage of people if you want to go on dates - working in TV, living in L.A., it is there if you want it.

Whether they run a record company or a grocery store, every boss will tell you you're in big trouble if you're borrowing more than you can ever afford to pay back. Delaying the pain for future generations is suicidal. We've got to start getting the deficit down right now, not next year.

I've had Botox, but then again pretty much everyone I know has. To me, Botox is no more unusual than toothpaste. It works. You do it once a year - who cares?

If you've got a big mouth and you're controversial, you're going to get attention.

I think you have to judge everything based on your personal taste. And if that means being critical, so be it. I hate political correctness. I absolutely loathe it.

You sounded like someone who should be singing on a cruise ship. Halfway through your song, I wished the ship was sinking.

I've learned to deal with stress much better now, things don't bother me in the way that they once used to.

I should get a dog. I would get a rescue dog. I like mutts; I don't care. I would probably get a three-legged dog no one else would want.

If your lifeguard duties were as good as your singing, a lot of people would be drowning.

Harshness to me is giving somebody false hopes and not following through. That's harsh. Telling some guy or some girl who've got zero talent that they have zero talent actually is a kindness.

If we had to choose one American Idol to go out to dinner with, it would be Fantasia. There are no airs and graces about her... I like her.

The feelings that we equate with love-feeling sick, feeling insecure, not eating-that's just lust getting in the way. It's your ego saying, 'I want to get laid' and 'I hope she likes me more than I like her.' Love is something that should be there in 20 years' time.

The object of this competition is not to be mean to the losers but to find a winner. The process makes you mean because you get frustrated. Kids turn up unrehearsed, wearing the wrong clothes, singing out of tune and you can either say, "Good job" and patronize them or tell them the truth, and sometimes the truth is perceived as mean.

Shave off your beard and wear a dress. You would be a great female impersonator.

It was like orderin a hamburger and getting only the buns

You sounded like Dolly parton on helium." (After kristy lee cook of season 7 on american idol,sang her country rendition of the Beatles'"Eight Days A Week.)

It would hurt my feelings if I respected your opinions.

I genuinely believed no one would want to marry me. I am difficult to live with. I'm selfish, quite weird and I need time on my own to think - and then I work all night long. That is difficult for someone to deal with. And it would drive me mad - I could never be my own girlfriend!

The only people with power today are the audience. And that is increasing with Twitter, Facebook, and everything else. We cater to their likes and dislikes, and you ignore that at your peril.

What luxury would I take to a desert island? A mirror. It's true. I'd miss me.

You have an advantage if you win. I always think it's best to be remembered as a winner rather than as the runner-up. It's definitely more fun getting the gold than it is the silver.

The past is the past, no matter how successful it's been. For me, it's only tomorrow that's interesting

It was like orderin a hamburger and getting only the buns"(After Brooke White of season 7 on american idol sang the song 'Hero'by Mariah Carey)

Choosing how you vote should not be a snap verdict based on a few minutes of television.

If I went to a psychiatrist, it would be a long session. I've always thought that I do have a number of issues that probably need dealing with, because I am quite odd in some ways.

You are a saucy little thing aren't you?

The secret of my success is that I make other people money. And, never, ever, be ashamed about trying to earn as much as possible for yourself, if the person you're working with is also making money. That's life!

It simply works. You do it twice a year. Who cares? And it balances my smoking and drinking.

The artists who endure are the ones who stay focused even after they have reached the top of their profession.

I still put punctuation in my texts. If it's an 'I', I make sure it's a capital.

I couldn't think of anything worse than being in an unhappy marriage. It worries me because I've seen it destroy people.

I've always been petrified of working for a boss who I didn't like but who I was in fear of, because I wanted my salary.

I don't mind being cast as some kind of a pantomime baddie, but I am very fair in business. I always have been. I pride myself on being fair.

I suggest we bring some normality back to this country and say if you are carrying a knife, there must be zero tolerance. If it was up to me, everyone caught with a knife would get an automatic ten year sentence.

I'm obsessed with cleanliness for myself, so I will take a bath three times a day, sometimes a steam twice a day in addition to that.

I think if you're an unhappy person, you're always going to be an unhappy person. You're probably going to be less unhappy if your business is doing well, if I'm being honest.

When I think of invention, I always think of America. You're always seeing ads: 'Have you got the next big idea?' There seems to be that spirit in America of inventions and inventors.

Every time I sat in a chemistry lesson, I thought, 'What am I doing this for? I don't ever want to be in a job that involves a Bunsen burner.'

I get very anti-social, depressed and irritable with people. I don't have time for them. I can't make phone calls and stuff. I just sit on my own for days.

I have always hated celebrities lecturing people on politics. So forgive me. But I am passionate about this country. I am equally passionate about the potential of the people who live here.

My own saying is: 'Create the hype, but don't ever believe it.'

I don't like people who are hypocritical, who pretend to be nice, particularly in show business when they're nice on camera, and then off camera they're absolutely appalling to the makeup people, or the waitress in a restaurant, you know? I don't like - I can't bear those kind of people. So I like people who are, you know, up front in your face.

We have hated the French for years. Now you have just joined the club. It makes you much more likable.

I'm not sure who has the right to say that you have better taste than somebody else, because essentially what you're doing is calling millions of people morons.

I think America is a hard nut to crack. But once you get a toehold, it's a great place for an entrepreneur because people are so enthusiastic, and you have the most enthusiastic audiences in world.

You don't go into anything contemplating failure, because if you did, you wouldn't make it.

I don't like kids that are pushed into things by stage mums, but when I can see they are having a good time, they're excited and enjoying the process, then I think it's wrong to discriminate.

I can't admit things; that's why I can't go to funerals and stuff like that. I find it very, very difficult to deal with that kind of reality. I shut myself off totally because it affects me so badly.

If you only ever heard Lady Gaga, she's the most boring singer in the world.

Of course I have an ego, but you have to have an ego. You have to be incredibly competitive. I can get competitive at times, way too much, and it becomes a little bit obsessive.

The young people working for me are ambitious and hard-working. That work ethic has always been a trait of the British.

If I had one dog, I'd want a hundred. If I had one kid, I'd probably want a hundred. I mean, it's just the way I am.

I think that by ignoring the show you're ignoring the audience who put you there.

I met someone the other night who's 28 years old, and he hasn't worked a day since he left college because he's pursuing a dream he'll never, ever realize: He thinks he's a great singer. Actually, he's crap.

Anyone who goes on 'The X Factor' to make big money will be in for a big shock.

Anything I shouldn't laugh at makes me laugh.

At 20, you're cocky and you think you can rule the world, and you get it all wrong.

Being different is good; embrace it.

Britain's got talent, enormous talent; that's very obvious.

Every show I've ever, you know, produced, essentially it's the show I want to watch myself.

Every single negative can lead to a positive. Any negative situation... don't get too down about it - you'll work it out. You learn it as you go along. You don't get smart at 17. You just don't unless you're one of a billion. it will happen over time and it's the getting there which will be the most fun.

Everyone who turns up on 'X Factor' does it because a door has been closed to them at some time in their lives, and this is the only shot they have got.

Good is not enough. You've got to be great.

I actually don't understand a word Paula's saying anymore. It's like a new language.

I can't stand stage mothers. It doesn't work. You definitely feel that with the new generation of pop stars right now they've all managed to work it out for themselves. You have to have confidence in that. When you're young, you know your market better than I will. I love having young people on the show because I can learn from them.

I can't think of one person who is on TV who isn't vain. It's the nature of the beast. If you are on TV then you have a vanity, for sure. Just admit it! Why not?

I didn't have any qualifications when I left school - I had three O-levels.

I didn't realise how important stupid people are in your life, because you ask yourself, what made stupid people so stupid? What made them the way they are?

I do a couple of hundred press-ups a day but I haven't been to a gym in years.