Clay Aiken Quotations

In my ideal world, no child would suffer. Charitable instincts would prevail. There would be global acceptance of all different types of people.

My mother taught me that we all have the power to achieve our dreams. What I lacked was the courage.

I know that I've got big ears and a big forehead and that my hair sticks up, but I'm happy with myself. I'm not necessarily trying to win a beauty pageant here.

If my career detour from special education to singing has done one thing, it has afforded me the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others.

I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things. I wasn't raised that way, and I'm not going to raise a child to do that.

I went to school for special education. I always assumed when I had the opportunity I would love to try and help kids with disabilities.

I decided to study special education and fell in love with working with individuals with autism. That's what I planned to do with my life.

I did get a degree in special education.

I sometimes think I might be autistic because I like to know - I need to know - my beginnings and my ends. I don't have to be in control of it, but I need to know what's going on.

You know, I think I'm a stronger person for realizing that you can't make everybody love you.

I'd hate to have a job where I had to be rude to people.

Well, fortunately we found out that the runner-up our particular year was going to get a record contract also. So it was kind of a - it was bitter sweet but it was an opportunity.

Actually, I dont hate cats, Im just kind of afraid of them.

It's important that I make a difference in some way. It's not necessarily how I make a difference, but I want to make sure that I do.

I got rid of my glasses and they changed my hair. That's really all they did. They went shopping for me, so the clothes are different too. It wasn't like Extreme Makeover where I got a nose job or anything.

The greatest glory never comes from falling, but from rising each time you fall.

I think I probably hoped for it a little bit, but I'm not an optimist. I'm a realist... or maybe even a pessimist.

It doesn't really matter to me how I make a difference, I just wanna make sure that I do.

I don't really feel like I have anybody to answer to but myself and God and the people I love.

And I don't think that success can be measured by how many TV shows you're on.

I am never going to sound like Johnny Mathis.

It's a whole team of people working 24 hours around the clock to make me look like this.

I had a Spanish teacher in high school. I rarely got in trouble in her room because I felt I was disappointing her if I got a bad grade. That had more power over me than teachers who told me I talked too much. That level of respect I had for her made me not want to fail for her.

But I was going to be a teacher my entire life, so I wasn't counting on money to much.

And I think that when I finally decided to let go and let God and allow that to happen, I became a lot more successful than I could have done if I had planned it all myself.

I thought about that the other day after I went to the grocery store and had to sign fifteen autographs before leaving. On one hand, it's just so flattering. On the other hand, sometimes it would be nice to get the bread and leave, you know?

Whether this ride lasts for one year or 10 years, I want to have a home base.

She's excellent. It's really great to have somebody, we see eye to eye, ear to ear, I guess, on a lot of the stuff that we both like. She helps me figure out how to slow down and that we make sure that this next album is as good as it can be.

I have a feeling they are probably mostly ladies,

Heck, it's just as insulting as when someone like you interviews me and asks a question like that, no matter how you word it. It's part of the game. You just do it.

Well, there are certain words and emotions I don't want kids hearing, and I'm not changing because they think it's going to sell better. This is going to sound horrible, but I got 12 million votes doing what I did.

I think celebrities have an obligation to the public to not just sing or act.

I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions because I don’t think you should have to wait until December to start working on how to change yourself. I think if you’ve got a problem, you need to fix it now.

Working with children with autism has provided me with an opportunity to see the world in a different way. I see them strive to overcome obstacles and persevere, and learn to persevere myself. They are my inspiration.

I think there is a predisposition among Christians that Hollywood is anti-Jesus or anti-Christianity. I was warned I'd have to fight to maintain the freedom to express my beliefs. It's an unfair stereotype, and so far that's been the farthest from the truth. While everyone I work with may not share my beliefs, I have been surrounded by nothing but support.

I really love live performing!

When the answer to all my dreams is as close as a touch away, why am I here holding back what I'm trying to say?

I auditioned just for fun.

Well, financially it's a little bit better. But it's better than than when I was a teacher. But I kind of - it's allowed me to buy a house. And I've been able to help my mother with some stuff and my brother. So, that's nice.

There are stars out there who would die to have this much exposure.

Pain happens to everyone. To grow up, to fulfill your potential, to develop into what God wants you to be-this process takes support. No one succeeds alone.

The biggest problem I had - and the biggest problem teenagers have - is not how they dress, how they look or how they act or talk. It's how they see themselves - their self-esteem. In the tenth grade, I realized I am who I am. I've got big ears and big feet. I can etiher sulk around or I can be happy with who I am. The minute I decided to be confident with who I was, all that other stuff stopped. It's all in the way you carry yourself.

A song is like a smile. If you meet people from another country, even if you don't speak the same language, you know what a smile means. A song works the same way. Music produces feelings that need no translation.

I had the greatest time on Broadway and made friends I never expected to make!

I was on TV for almost sixteen weeks during American Idol. It's at the point now where it's old.

I mean, that's kind of what this business is about in some ways. You're trying to make everybody like you. But you can't do that. You can't force everybody - anybody to like you if they're just not willing to do it.

Every kiss is a kiss you can never get back.

Because I'm from North Carolina, you think I'm the Andy Griffith show, or something?

I never knew that people made a club for me!

Perseverance. I got cut twice. I got cut in Charlotte. I didn't have to go to Atlanta to audition. I could have said, "I'm not cut out for this." But I said, "I think I'm better than that, I can go try again." So I went to Atlanta and I made it through. Then I got cut the first time around. I could have told them I didn't want to come back for the Wild Card show but I did and look how far I got.

I don't understand why people like me! It doesn't make any sense!

No matter what the situation you're in, if you're raised in a loving environment, that's the most important thing.

The only reason people go to bars is to get drunk and have sex. To me, bars are what hell is like.

Faith is not about a building or a lifestyle. You can minister in many ways besides attending services or being a preacher. And I think that that's what I feel most thankful for--that I have the opportunity to minister now, in my own way.

A song can be more than words and music ... when sung with soul a song carries you to another world, to a place where no matter how much pain you feel, you are never alone.

Love others and as you do, that love will return to you.

If I'm signing autographs and I see one hundred people in a line I've got to remind myself, "That person is one one-hundredth of my day, but to them I'm their day." You know what I mean? Unless they meet J.Lo later on.

I want everyone to vote. I want everyone to be a part of electing officials. Because when we are not a part, when we don't have a very broad voter base, then we don't have true representation.

We need to make sure that the laws we're passing are protecting people. And we should not be voting against something that makes progress just because it doesn't make as much progress as we'd like to see made. As much as I might like to see any number of issues progress in larger steps, I understand that some of these things happen in smaller steps. And so for that reason, progress is progress. And success is success.

If other people choose to believe because I do, great. I want to show people God's love through what I do and who I am. At the same time, I don't feel I need to pass out Bibles at the concert.

I appreciate the idea of allowing people to have their own private walk with God. To me, God is about love, not condemnation.

I kind of had my life planned out for me. I'd be married at some point, have, you know, 1.5 children, and be a principal possibly one day. But I think that that was kind of my problem. I allowed myself to plan out my life and didn't let provident direction guide my life.

It's not the money. It's not the fame. It's the influence.

I never want to produce anything that a family could not enjoy together. I never want to create art that would embarrass my own children later.

Clive [Davis] tried to tell me that saying certain words in a song- or as he says, ‘putting some balls into it'- isn't bad, it's just strong emotion. Well, there are certain words and emotions I don't want kids hearing, and I'm not changing because they think it's going to sell better. This is going to sound horrible, but I got 12 million votes doing what I did.

I'm really not that special. Really, I'm not. I was on a big TV show, but it was just a TV show.

It's important that I make a difference in some way. If it's performing and touching someone that way, that's great; if it's being a teacher and helping some kid understand something, that's even better...

UNICEF is working for the survival of children worldwide. What can we do to get more Americans committed to the cause?

I could have a degree in music and come on the show, and Simon could still say 'You stink'.

I'm not different. I'm not different at all. The wrapping is different but the gift is still the same.

Everyone deserves the best start in life, which is what UNICEF is working to provide the world's most vulnerable children. Education is essential to a child's development. I hope that as an Ambassador I can encourage people to join UNICEF's mission to make education a reality for children throughout the world.

I'm religious. I think this is something God had planned for me.

I know this is going to sound cheesy and like I'm trying to be Miss America, but the most important responsibility a celebrity has is to set an example and be a role model.

I like to talk. I'm a terrible dancer. I love my hometown. I have freckles and oversized ears. I'm a geeks. I have tried not to hide who I am or what matters to me.

I don't think that there's substantiated evidence that shows that voter fraud is such a rampant problem that we have to put in place measures that people have to pass in order to exercise that constitutional free right. Voting should be -- and is required to be -- a right that is unencumbered. That does not have tests that people must pass.... Anything put in place to restrict that right, or to make it more difficult for people to exercise it, should be outlawed, and should not be allowed.

I had been told by a number of people that if you get half of what you want on your first album, you're doing really well. Pretty much every single thing they had was something that I liked. There were maybe one or two songs I didn't like, and they were taken off the album quickly.

I liked being able to work with all the different producers and take what they brought to the table and bring my own style to it.

I'm tired and I don't know what day it is.

I'm around a lot of good people who keep me grounded and don't let me get too high above my raisings. I have some good friends who don't talk about my job, and that's nice. Those are the friends who are my favorites. That helps a lot.

When I was a kid, the punishment I disliked the most was writing sentences. My mother loved to make me record my transgressions--always a minimum of five hundred times--and she even bought special spiral notebooks for me to fill up.... No matter how many notebooks I went through, there was always another one waiting in the kitchen drawer.

As long as you're living right, then you don't have to worry about what people see.

While everyone I work with may not share my beliefs, I have been surrounded by nothing but support.

I think Washington, in general, is dysfunctional. I think it's high time we put people in Congress who were not beholden to their party, and not beholden to anything but the people who they live around and grew up around, in my case.

The message I'll share...is that inclusion is extremely important for kids with and without disabilities.

There are 120 million kids in the world right now who don't go to school. Who have no education - who have no access to education.

First of all, I usually don't watch (the talk shows) and someone else will tell me about them. And, heck, half the time, I think it's funny.

There's stars out there who would die to have this much exposure.

I spent years and years in middle school getting picked on, so I'm kind of used it,

...as long as you're living right, then you don't have to worry about what people see.

They formed themselves while I was on the show, and have grown in strength and energy ever since, which is nothing but thrilling for us.

It's very rare that you get to go up and meet fans and especially at their house and surprise them. To come and knock on somebody's door is kind of a neat experience.

I want to make sure that no matter how long I go through this, I don't fall into the trap of changing and modifying how I do things that aren't a positive example. I want to remain somebody that the entire family can listen to or watch.

I'm gonna do my best to try to be in this seat on Sunday night myself.

I'm being trained to shake the bon-bon appropriately.

I'd never take a job where I had to do something that I didn't want to do.

I believe God has a plan. God has a direction for me. He may put me on a few detours, but the path with ultimately reveal itself. My job is to be a decent human being no matter how rocky the road gets.

You don't have to be around people you are related to be with family.

The greatest glory never comes from winning, but from rising each time you fall. A person is defined by what he chooses to do with his life, not by what happens to him.

All the stuff, curtains, fabrics and whatever else is coming, too.