James William Buffett is an American singer, songwriter, musician, author, actor, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an “island escapism” lifestyle. Inspirational Jimmy Buffett quotes will encourage you to think a little deeper than you usually would and broaden your perspective.
If you’re searching for great quotes by famous musicians that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of quotes from Miles Davis, powerful Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart quotes and famous Bruno Mars quotes.
Famous Jimmy Buffett Quotes
Wrinkles will only go where the smiles have been. – Jimmy Buffett
I’m inspired by people who keep on rolling, no matter their age. – Jimmy Buffett
Grief is like the wake behind a boat. It starts out as a huge wave that follows close behind you and is big enough to swamp and drown you if you suddenly stop moving forward. But if you do keep moving, the big wake will eventually dissipate. And after a long time, the waters of your life get calm again, and that is when the memories of those who have left begin to shine as bright and as enduring as the stars above. – Jimmy Buffett
I have always looked at life as a voyage, mostly wonderful, sometimes frightening. In my family and friends, I have discovered treasure more valuable than gold. – Jimmy Buffett
When the good times come around, they gallup in like wild horses. You just try to stay on them for as long as you can. And when they throw you off you just wait in the shade until they come around again. – Jimmy Buffett
It was too much Tequila, or not quite enough. – Jimmy Buffett

Elvis was the only man from Northeast Mississippi who could shake his hips and still be loved by rednecks, cops, and hippies. – Jimmy Buffett
We are the people our parents warned us about. – Jimmy Buffett
When reality looks too ugly, fantasize. – Jimmy Buffett
There will always be those who feel more comfortable not venturing from the warmth of the hearth, but there are those who prefer to look out the window and wonder what is beyond the horizon. – Jimmy Buffett
I got a PBS mind in an MTV world. – Jimmy Buffett
The weather is here Wish you were beautiful. – Jimmy Buffett
I’m getting old, don’t wear underwear, and I don’t go to church. – Jimmy Buffett
Whatever thrills you, anything you love to do, just say – Someday, I will. – Jimmy Buffett
I can only say the first thing that pops into my mind is I remember, years ago, seeing kind of a has-been country singer working – when I first moved to Nashville – in a bar in a Holiday Inn. – Jimmy Buffett
I was hungry and went out for a bite, ran into a chum with a bottle of rum and we wound up drinking all night. – Jimmy Buffett
Yes, I am a pirate, two hundred years to late. Cannons don’t thunder, there’s nothing to plunder, I’m an over forty victim of fate. – Jimmy Buffett
There’s no ‘dumb-ass’ vaccine. – Jimmy Buffett
I’d like to be a jellyfish, ’cause jellyfish don’t pay rent. – Jimmy Buffett
Is it time for your medication or mine? – Jimmy Buffett
What would Pop-eye do in a tight spot like this? – Jimmy Buffett
I still consider it a summer job, though. So, I try to maintain that summer job as long as I can. But it’s exciting to be able to have the opportunity to do things I always dreamed of as a kid. – Jimmy Buffett
I’m going back to my parrot head friends. – Jimmy Buffett
Any attempts at autobiography before the age of eighty seem pretty self-involved to me. There are a lot of smart middle-aged people but not many wise ones. – Jimmy Buffett
There’s a little bit of fruitcake left in every one of us. – Jimmy Buffett
I’ve always been trying to write songs like Lightfoot. A song of mine like ‘Come Monday’ is a direct result of me trying to write a Gordon Lightfoot song. – Jimmy Buffett
One of the inescapable encumbrances of leading an interesting life is that there have to be moments when you almost lose it. – Jimmy Buffett
Maybe there is another who sees life not as a flickering candle but as a torch that can illuminate an undiscovered world. – Jimmy Buffett
I ain’t no drinking man, but temptation got the best of me. – Jimmy Buffett
There’s damsels in distress out there, and we got all this beer. – Jimmy Buffett
Under the heavens and under the sea there’s a friend I don’t know, who holds the right key. – Jimmy Buffett
I just want to live happily ever after, every now and then. – Jimmy Buffett
If the phone doesn’t ring, it’s me. – Jimmy Buffett
And there’s that one particular harbor Sheltered from the wind Where the children play on the shore each day And all are safe within…. – Jimmy Buffett
I’d rather die while I’m living then live while I’m dead. – Jimmy Buffett
People who think too much before they act don’t act too much. – Jimmy Buffett
Only time will tell if it was time well-spent. – Jimmy Buffett
If we couldn’t laugh, we would all going to go insane. – Jimmy Buffett
I’m growing older, but not up. – Jimmy Buffett
The ocean has always been a salve to my soul. – Jimmy Buffett
Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call. Wanted to sail upon your waters, since I was three feet tall. You’ve seen it all, you’ve seen it all. Watched the men who rode you, switch from sails to steam. In your belly, you hold the treasure that few have ever seen, most of them dreams, most of them dreams. – Jimmy Buffett
There’s a strange sense of pleasure being beat to hell by a storm when you’re on a ship that is not going to sink. – Jimmy Buffett
Some people think there’s a woman to blame, but I know – it’s my own damn fault. – Jimmy Buffett
I’ve got a Caribbean soul I can barely control, and some Texas hidden here in my heart! – Jimmy Buffett
Searching is half the fun: life is much more manageable when thought of as a scavenger hunt as opposed to a surprise party. – Jimmy Buffett
I’m living on things that excite me, be they pastry, or lobster, or love…. – Jimmy Buffett
As a dreamer of dreams and a travelin’ man, I have chalked up many a mile. Read dozens of books about heroes and crooks, and I learned much from both of their styles. – Jimmy Buffett
It’s a fine line between Saturday night and Sunday morning. – Jimmy Buffett
Where it all ends, I can’t fathom, my friends. If I knew, I might toss out my anchor. – Jimmy Buffett
We’re weird roman candles burning bright at both ends. At the end of the road’s where this story begins. Where the green of the gulf meets the blue of the sea. What makes it all happen is still a mystery to me. But those crazy days and those crazy ways, we never want to undo. We’ll be together, now and forever. – Jimmy Buffett
Pack your bags, we’re going on a guilt trip! – Jimmy Buffett
I’ve always found drugs and alcohol somewhat pedestrian. It’s like, I don’t need an external agent to open my mind. I’m here, conscious, alert, present. Why would I alter that? – Jimmy Buffett
It’s those changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes nothing remains quite the same. With all of our running and all of our cunning, if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane. – Jimmy Buffett
If there’s a heaven for me, I’m sure it has a beach attached. – Jimmy Buffett
Sail the main course in a simple sturdy craft. Keep her well stocked with short stories and long laughs. Go fast enough to get there but slow enough to see. Moderation seems to be the key. – Jimmy Buffett
Oh, yesterdays are over my shoulder, So I can’t look back for too long. There’s just too much to see waiting in front of me, and I know that I just can’t go wrong. – Jimmy Buffett
Go fast enough to get there, but slow enough to see. – Jimmy Buffett
Be yourself, be pleasant, play hard and have no regrets. – Jimmy Buffett
Therapy is extremely expensive. Popping bubble wrap is radically cheap. – Jimmy Buffett
If life gives you limes, make margaritas. – Jimmy Buffett
Fun is about as good a habit as there is. – Jimmy Buffett
Some of it’s magic and some of it’s tragic but I had a good life all the way. – Jimmy Buffett
We got to roll with the punches, play all of our hunches, make the best of whatever comes your way. Forget that blind ambition, learn to trust your intuition – plowing straight ahead, come what may. – Jimmy Buffett
Shells sink, dreams float. Life’s good on our boat. – Jimmy Buffett
With you, I would walk anywhere. – Jimmy Buffett
later down the road of life, i made the discovery that saltwater was also good for the mental abrasions one inevitably acquires on land. – Jimmy Buffett
Breathe in, breathe out, move on. – Jimmy Buffett
It’s important to have as much fun as possible while we’re here. It balances out the times when the minefield of life explodes. – Jimmy Buffett
Some make the world go round; others watch it turn. – Jimmy Buffett
Wasting away again in Margaritaville, searching for my lost shaker of salt. – Jimmy Buffett
Indecision may or may not be my problem. – Jimmy Buffett
Love is a wave building to a crescendo. Ride if you will, ride it with me. – Jimmy Buffett
My voyage was never a well-conceived plan, nor will it ever be. I have made it up as I went along. – Jimmy Buffett
I hate to mention age, but I come from an era when we weren’t consumed by technology and television. My mother insisted that her children read. To describe my scarce leisure time in today’s terms, I always default to reading. – Jimmy Buffett
It takes no more time to see the good side of life than it takes to see the bad. – Jimmy Buffett
Older and wiser voices can help you find the right path, if you are only willing to listen. – Jimmy Buffett
If we weren’t all crazy, we’d just go insane. – Jimmy Buffett
Humor has bailed me out of more tight situations than I can think of. If you go with your instincts and keep your humor, creativity follows. With luck, success comes, too. – Jimmy Buffett
Is it ignorance or apathy? Hey, I don’t know, and I don’t care. – Jimmy Buffett
Well, I’m still here. Didn’t have to go to rehab, and I’m not broke. – Jimmy Buffett
It’s been wonderful for me, and I feel so privileged to have fans that are that loyal. – Jimmy Buffett
To describe my scarce leisure time in today’s terms, I always default to reading. – Jimmy Buffett
These old ballparks are like cathedrals in America. We don’t have big old Gothic cathedrals like they do in Europe. But we got baseball parks. – Jimmy Buffett
If it doesn’t work out there will never be any doubt that the pleasure was worth all the pain. – Jimmy Buffett
There’s something missing in the music industry today… and it’s music. Songs you hear don’t last, it’s just product fed to you by the industry. – Jimmy Buffett
Places I’ve lived since then had to have some kind of uniqueness and character about them. And logically Key West, and then Down Island. So, all of that stuff sort of had it’s roots in New Orleans and went crazy. – Jimmy Buffett
And I try to give the best bang for the buck. I love performing more than anything else. – Jimmy Buffett
And you find as a writer there are certain spots on the planet where you write better than others, and I believe in that. And New Orleans is one of them. – Jimmy Buffett
If I couldn’t laugh, I just would go insane, If we couldn’t laugh we just would go insane, If we weren’t all crazy we would go insane. – Jimmy Buffett
And I wound up in New Orleans for all those years and it was a great place, really a catalyst creatively. – Jimmy Buffett
I always said that I wouldn’t use a teleprompter, and if I start to sing real flat, I’ll hang it up. – Jimmy Buffett
Moderation is the key, so I work certain amount of time and then I take a certain amount of time off. – Jimmy Buffett
I’m a big follower and reactor to weather. – Jimmy Buffett
You know, as a writer, I’m more of a listener than a writer, cuz if I hear something, I will write it down. – Jimmy Buffett
At 57, to have a No. 1 album, I wasn’t expecting it. – Jimmy Buffett
Phish and Dave Matthews really know their audiences and really treat them well. – Jimmy Buffett
The stores and the things like that, the business side of things came out at the point when, I’d say probably in the early ’70s, it looked like the year of the singer-songwriter was over, ’cause music changed in our time and the spotlight was out. – Jimmy Buffett
Instinct taught me 20 years ago to pace a song or a concert performance. That translates into pacing a story, pleasing a reading audience. – Jimmy Buffett
Yes, Barometer was written in Key West and I did spend many hours at the library there. Every song on that album has a literary connection. – Jimmy Buffett
Yes, I own a whaler boat, it slides across the sea some folks say I’m a part of it I know it’s part of me. – Jimmy Buffett
We had been talking to the Cubs for a long time about doing this. – Jimmy Buffett
I love a great show. This is a great show. This is the circus coming to town and it’s great to see (Glenn) do that. – Jimmy Buffett
I first listened to Sirius’ incredible programming in my car and boat. – Jimmy Buffett
Give me some words we can dance to. – Jimmy Buffett
Let me remind you: We are party people, and things will get better. – Jimmy Buffett
It was a call to arms, and we responded. – Jimmy Buffett
It’s a jungle out there kiddies. Have a very fruitful day. – Jimmy Buffett
The message of this movie is not only that our kids are smarter than adults, but it’s our world that they’re going to inherit, and it’s great to see activism at that early age. – Jimmy Buffett
I don’t think there was one arrest. And everybody in the neighborhood made a ton of money. – Jimmy Buffett
I could go on for hours telling stories, but I guess you had to be there. – Jimmy Buffett
And now, you dress if you go. They looked like Deadheads with a little better wardrobe so that’s how the name sort of originated. – Jimmy Buffett
You better lava me now or lava me not. – Jimmy Buffett
You’ve been acting like Jesus owes you a favor, but he’s a little smart for you to fool. – Jimmy Buffett
I know I should be leaving this climate, I’ve got a verse, but can’t rhyme it. – Jimmy Buffett
My head hurts, my feet stink, and I don’t love Jesus. It’s that kind of morning. – Jimmy Buffett
Come back, come back, back to Jamaica Don’t you know we made a big mistaika We would be so sad if you told us goodbye and we promise not to shoot you out of the sky! – Jimmy Buffett
Why don’t we get drunk and screw? – Jimmy Buffett
We’re just recycled history machines, cavemen in faded blue jeans. – Jimmy Buffett
What if life is just a cosmic joke, like spiders in your underwear. – Jimmy Buffett
I just thank God I don’t live in a trailer. – Jimmy Buffett
You know Death will get you in the end, but if you are smart and have a sense of humor, you can thumb your nose at it for a while. – Jimmy Buffett
Tell me where are the flashbacks they all warned us would come? – Jimmy Buffett
You get religion as your hair turns grey. – Jimmy Buffett
Today there are two Madonnas, our lady of Fatima over here and that woman from Michigan. – Jimmy Buffett
Barmaid bring a pitcher, another round of brew. Honey, why don’t we get drunk and screw? – Jimmy Buffett
Mr. Bear, you know in the eyes of the Lord, we’re both beasts. – Jimmy Buffett
Never did I think that I became family entertainment. – Jimmy Buffett
If someone wants a piece of you, never let them pay. What you do not give to them time takes anyway. – Jimmy Buffett
Nothing to show but this brand-new tattoo. But it’s a real beauty, a Mexican cutie, how it got here I haven’t a clue. – Jimmy Buffett
Elvis up in Michigan and maybe out in Mars. – Jimmy Buffett
The cheating was sweet, but my heart is beat. Don’t tear it apart, please by-pass this heart. – Jimmy Buffett
Truth is stranger than fishin. – Jimmy Buffett
I’ve done a bit of smuggling; I’ve run my share of grass. I made enough money to buy Miami, but I piss it away so fast. – Jimmy Buffett
I got quarters in my loafers trying to fight inflation when it only used to take a cent. – Jimmy Buffett
Quitting doesn’t enter my mind. – Jimmy Buffett
It is an eternal truth in the political as well as the mystical body, that where one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. – Jimmy Buffett
That to me is the way any good romantic would look at his life: Live it first, then write it down before you go. – Jimmy Buffett
We made it nearly 20 centuries, a bunch of monkeys with PH Ds. – Jimmy Buffett
Cheeseburger in paradise! – Jimmy Buffett
Surrounded by stories surreal and sublime, I fell in Love in the Library once upon a time. – Jimmy Buffett
My occupational hazard is my occupation’s just not around…. – Jimmy Buffett
Life was just a tire swing. ‘Jambalaya’ was the only song I could sing. Blackberry pickin’, eatin’ fried chicken, And I never knew a thing about pain. Life was just a tire swing. – Jimmy Buffett
We need more fruitcakes in this world, and less bakers! – Jimmy Buffett
It’s not the tales of Stephen King that I’ve read, I need protection from the things in my head . . . – Jimmy Buffett
I made a deal with the devil for a whole lot of money. – Jimmy Buffett
I know a girl made of memories and phrases, lives her whole life in chapters and phases…. – Jimmy Buffett
While my mind is flexible, these brittle bones don’t bend. – Jimmy Buffett
I can’t fax you my love, I can’t email my heart. – Jimmy Buffett
If I don’t die by Thursday, I’ll be roaring Friday night. – Jimmy Buffett
Without geography you’re nowhere. – Jimmy Buffett
The wino and I know the pain of back bustin’. – Jimmy Buffett
They send you off to college, try to gain a little knowledge, but all you want to do is learn how to score. – Jimmy Buffett
Gluttony, do not eat thy neighbor’s wife’s popcorn. – Jimmy Buffett
My only contact with the outside world was an RCA Victrola, and Elvis would sing, and then I’d dream about expensive cars. – Jimmy Buffett