Gene Simmons

If you're building a house, or doing anything, time is what you've got. Well, there's effort, but you need time. The more time you put into something, the better stuff you can make.

I voted for President Bush, I voted for President Clinton, and, although I do want my vote back, I voted for President Obama.

The sad thing is most people have to check with someone before they do the things that make them happy. We're all passing through; the least we can do is be happy, and the only way to do that is by being selfish.

I think it's pathetic that women and men treat each other worse than we treat our pets. It's love or hate.

I was never interested in being a rock star. I always wanted to be Boris Karloff.

It's in the history books, the Holocaust. It's just a phrase. And the truth is it happened yesterday. It happened to my mother. I never met my grandmothers or my grandfathers. They were all wiped up in the gas chambers of Nazi Germany.

I'd like to think that the boring lady who's talking to me now is a lot sexier and more interesting than the one who's doing NPR. You know, studious and reserved, and - I bet you're a lot of fun at a party.

No. Better research needed. Fire your research person. No fishnet stockings. Never. Not in this band.

The biggest financial pitfall in life is divorce. And the biggest reason for divorce is marriage.

My skin is more beautiful than yours. I would be quite more popular in jail if I so chose.

You know why I'm pulling your leg? Because I can't touch it from where I am.

The best you can do is set your kids on the right track; staying on it without falling is up to the kids.

Life is too short to have anything but delusional notions about yourself.

Before a show, you might have aches or pains, or it's a bad rainy day, or it's too humid. We all complain about stuff. But... how do I put this poetically? Once it's the roar of the crowd and the smell of the greasepaint, forget it. Once the adrenaline kicks in and your chest expands, you forget about all that.

The makeup is simply an extension of the personality and colors, clothing, makeup all express something.

There are many really stupid ideas that wind up being brilliant if you can implement them.

James Bond has a license to kill, rockstars have a license to be outrageous. Rock is about grabbing people's attention.

Television and comic books are, and continue to be, probably the biggest influence in my life. It's the biggest influence on everybody's life.

Nobody does just one thing. But the real difference between being an entrepreneur and everyone else in the world is the ability to monetize. I am an entrepreneur in the classic mold.

I don't wait for the calendar to figure out when I should live life.

The Beatles weren't like any other band. Everybody in the band sang, which is why you knew everybody in the band.

The only jobs kids have are to do well in school, to be charming and polite, and be thankful. That's it. I'll house you, protect you, I'll even give my life for you, and in return, you will behave.

I don't sleep all that much, but when I do, it's sound.

My mother had a horrific life. At fourteen, she was in the Nazi concentration camps. Her sense about life now is, every day above ground is a good day.

I would urge all bands that say they only care about credibility and don't care about money to send Gene Simmons every dollar that they don't want. I'd be happy to take it off them.

I'm forbidden fruit. Once you go to certain households, mommy doesn't want you to see that dirty man who sticks his tongue out and spits out blood and all that stuff.

Marriage is an institution, and you must be fully committed to it.

I'm fascinated with myself and love hearing the sound of my own voice. I'd like to hear what I have to say. A lot of people don't like being alone because they truly don't like themselves, but I love me.

When you really think about it, I'm not delusional enough to think that what I do is important to life as we know it on this planet. No. But neither is what you do.

Never underestimate the power of being popular in pop culture. You have to be able to do something. You can have a good seat at the restaurant but you still have to pay for the meal. Fame is important but to be rich is more important.

Sugar-free ice pops are an invention of God. They hardly have any calories since they're mostly water. I eat about 15 pops every two days.

If you think about it, critics are an unnecessary life-form on the planet Earth, and here's why: because it's a job without credentials. You don't have to go to school.

I worship scones and danishes. If I never had another meal, I wouldn't care as long as I could eat pastries and jelly doughnuts.

If someone likes you, they'll buy what you're selling, whether or not they need it.

I like to approach every day like it's the only day I will ever have.

Live and think like a poor man and you'll always be OK.

My mother is probably the wisest person I've ever known. She's not schooled, she's not well read. But she has a philosophy of life that makes well-read people seem like morons.

The root of all evil isn't money; rather, it's not having enough money.

Rock is about finding who you are. You don't necessarily have to play your instrument very well at all. You can just barely get by and you can be in a rock band.

Everyone in Kiss is replaceable. My ego will tell you that I am not, but that's not so.

I fail all of the time. It means nothing.

Music is feeling. You can try to verbalize it. It really just hits you or it doesn't.

I'm in a weird band. We've done very well. The American Dream is alive and well.

Personally I support 14,000 kids in Zambia - I feed and clothe them - but I don't hold press conferences about it. I don't do it so you'll think what a nice person I am; it's private.

I don't wanna go on vacation. There's nothing about it that appeals to me. People look forward to doing that; I look forward to getting up every day and doing something.

People who are the salt of the earth get up and go to a job that they hate.

I crave ideas, and when an idea hits me, it grips me and it tortures me until I master it.

You can't go through life and leave things the way they are. We can all make a difference, and if I die today, I know I made a difference.

Kiss is a Fourth of July fireworks show with a backbeat.

I wanted to be in a band that gave bang for the buck. I wanted to be in the band who didn't look like a bunch of guys who, you know, should be in a library studying for their finals.

When you are a rock star in front of 20,000 people, you receive instant gratification. A rock star on tour is a king in his domain.

I also learned that I love making money. Anyone who is not afraid of work will be happy with the money they make.

When you walk through a bad neighborhood, you don't want a poodle by your side. You want a Rottweiler.

I refuse to stand up in front of a rabbi and my friends and the woman I love - who I will tell you I can love with all my heart - and promise she will be the only one I will ever have until the day I die. That's a lie.

It's better to be an octopus than a fish. If an octopus loses a tentacle to a predator, the octopus will survive with seven tentacles left for itself.

Never underestimate the power of being popular in pop culture. You have to be able to do something. You can have a good seat at the restaurant, but you still have to pay for the meal. Fame is important, but to be rich is more important.

Never negotiate with kids. They don't have life experience, and they don't have repercussions for bad decisions; they still get fed and housed.

If you're the greatest, it's okay to say you're the greatest. My suggestion to everybody is to be their own greatest fan. Weaker personas and personalities define that as egotistical or arrogant, but what it means is their self-esteem isn't that strong.

There are no limitations to any of our dreams.

When you look at Clark Kent when he's working at the Daily Planet, he's a reporter. He doesn't fly through the air in his glasses and his suit.