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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

I fail all of the time. It means nothing.

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

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

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

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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