Sometimes when you have a record out, you think you're going to go in at No. 1 but you go in at No. 8. So your second record has to be better. That's how I treat it.
— Simon Cowell
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.
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.
When you're making a reality show, you can't even plan a week ahead now.
I grew up when the whole Motown thing was huge. The charts in those days were dominated by groups more than solo artists at one point.
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'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.
Holding auditions in front of an audience is testing.
You don't go into anything contemplating failure, because if you did, you wouldn't make it.
I was 12 years old when I first realized that food could be hot. That's why I turned out the way I am.
Every show I've ever, you know, produced, essentially it's the show I want to watch myself.
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.
At 20, you're cocky and you think you can rule the world, and you get it all wrong.
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.
My proudest achievement has been the success of the shows and artists I have been involved with, because they were made in Britain.
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.
Not everybody is perfect, and I don't think we should be looking for perfect people.
If you only ever heard Lady Gaga, she's the most boring singer in the world.
I've always treated the music business as a business.
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.
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.
Most things in music go full circle eventually.
There was nothing I could - and wanted to - learn in school. It was just a complete waste of my time.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
You are a saucy little thing aren't you?
If your lifeguard duties were as good as your singing, a lot of people would be drowning.
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.
The minute you start assuming that the audience is very happy to see the same show again, you're dead.
I'm not that musical. I don't really know how a record is produced, and, funnily enough, I don't want to.
Thank God kids love following an artist. When you get a group who pop, it's the best thing in the world.
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.
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.
I probably get more satisfaction from making a show than being on a show.
The only magazines I read are car magazines.
I hated school, but I love work.
I don't want to tell a 15 or 14 year old what they should be doing. I want them to tell me. And that's what I got when I met Justin Bieber for the first time.
Rules equal boredom, and I don't like that.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Shave off your beard and wear a dress. You would be a great female impersonator.
