Top 60 Clay Aiken Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

2. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

3. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

4. “It doesn’t really matter to me how I make a difference, I just wanna make sure that I do.”

— Clay Aiken

5. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

6. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

7. “It’s not the money. It’s not the fame. It’s the influence.”

— Clay Aiken

8. “I don’t understand why people like me! It doesn’t make any sense!”

— Clay Aiken

9. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

10. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

11. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

12. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

13. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

14. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

15. “I’m tired and I don’t know what day it is.”

— Clay Aiken

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

— Clay Aiken

17. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

18. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

19. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

20. “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?”

— Clay Aiken

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

— Clay Aiken

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

— Clay Aiken

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

— Clay Aiken

24. “Every kiss is a kiss you can never get back.”

— Clay Aiken

25. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

26. “I’m not different. I’m not different at all. The wrapping is different but the gift is still the same.”

— Clay Aiken

27. “I did get a degree in special education.”

— Clay Aiken

28. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

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

— Clay Aiken

30. “And I don’t think that success can be measured by how many TV shows you’re on.”

— Clay Aiken

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

— Clay Aiken

32. “You know, I think I’m a stronger person for realizing that you can’t make everybody love you.”

— Clay Aiken

33. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

34. “I’d hate to have a job where I had to be rude to people.”

— Clay Aiken

35. “As long as you’re living right, then you don’t have to worry about what people see.”

— Clay Aiken

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

— Clay Aiken

37. “Because I’m from North Carolina, you think I’m the Andy Griffith show, or something?”

— Clay Aiken

38. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

39. “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...”

— Clay Aiken

40. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

41. “I really love live performing!”

— Clay Aiken

42. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

43. “I never knew that people made a club for me!”

— Clay Aiken

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

— Clay Aiken

45. “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.”

— Clay Aiken

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

— Clay Aiken

47. “I had the greatest time on Broadway and made friends I never expected to make!”

— Clay Aiken

48. “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?”

— Clay Aiken

49. “I am never going to sound like Johnny Mathis.”

— Clay Aiken

50. “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.”

— Clay Aiken