Top 120 Rufus Wainwright Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Faith is a bluebird you see from afar, it’s for real and as sure as the first evening star. You can’t touch it or buy it or wrap it up tight, but it’s there all the same, making things turn out right.”

— Rufus Wainwright

2. “Life is a game and true love is a trophy.”

— Rufus Wainwright

3. “There’s no life without humour. It can make the wonderful moments of life truly glorious, and it can make tragic moments bearable.”

— Rufus Wainwright

4. “I really need to know I may just never see you again, or might as well You took advantage of a world that loved you well I’m going to a town that has already been burnt down I’m so tired of you, America.”

— Rufus Wainwright

5. “I am undefinable. I don’t fit into any particular category.”

— Rufus Wainwright

6. “Somebody curse the light And take me far away from myself.”

— Rufus Wainwright

7. “You get to a certain age, and you feel the need to reward yourself just for existing.”

— Rufus Wainwright

8. “I made the decision to take on board the critical feedback. Reviews are something you can easily ignore as a performer or writer but I chose to not ignore them here and I think that I benefited. I think I’m stronger for it – and I have a tougher skin as a result.”

— Rufus Wainwright

9. “I’m your knight in shining armor. I’m here to save you from Linkin Park.”

— Rufus Wainwright

10. “I just think it’s better to have ideas. I mean, you can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier, people die for them, people kill for them.”

— Rufus Wainwright

11. “I like to try new things.”

— Rufus Wainwright

12. “I don’t want to hold you and feel so helpless I don’t want to smell you and lose my senses And smile in slow motion With eyes in love.”

— Rufus Wainwright

13. “The mind has so many pictures Why can’t I sleep with my eyes open? The mind has so many memories Can you remember what it looks like when I cry? I’m trying, trying to tell you All that I can in a sweet and velvet tongue But no words ever could sell you Sell you on me after all that I have done.”

— Rufus Wainwright

14. “Let the little fairy in you fly!”

— Rufus Wainwright

15. “Cigarettes and chocolate milk These are just a couple of my cravings Everything it seems I like’s a little bit stronger A little bit thicker A little bit harmful for me.”

— Rufus Wainwright

16. “All humans realize they are loved when witnessing the dawn; early morning is the triumph of good over evil. Absolved by light we decide to go on.”

— Rufus Wainwright

17. “What I love about my daughter is that she is going to definitely allow me and force me to change my life and slow down and make it more about the real things in the world.”

— Rufus Wainwright

18. “I am ridiculously high-maintenance.”

— Rufus Wainwright

19. “And you will believe in love And all that it’s supposed to be But just until the fish start to smell And you’re struck down by a hammer.”

— Rufus Wainwright

20. “Putting all of my time In learning to care And a bucket of rhymes I threw up somewhere Want a locket of who Made me lose my perfunctory view Of all that is around And of all that I do.”

— Rufus Wainwright

21. “That will to love is very powerful. But it doesn’t always win.”

— Rufus Wainwright

22. “My cheeks explode when I smile. Thats why I have to look so nonplussed.”

— Rufus Wainwright

23. “Madonna created a monster that sucks up souls.”

— Rufus Wainwright

24. “I may not lead the most dramatic life, but in my brain it’s ‘War and Peace’ everyday.”

— Rufus Wainwright

25. “Unless I have my aunt or my boyfriend to take care of me, I’m a little pathetic.”

— Rufus Wainwright

26. “Once you’ve fallen from classical virtue, won’t have a soul for to wake up and hold you.”

— Rufus Wainwright

27. “I really do fear that I’m dying I really do fear that I’m dead I saw it in your eyes what I’m looking for I saw it in your eyes what will make me live.”

— Rufus Wainwright

28. “And I am left behind Corrupted crushed and blind All for a dream That in truth was never really mine.”

— Rufus Wainwright

29. “These are just the rules and regulations Of the birds, and the bees The earth, and the trees, Not to mention the gods, not to mention the gods.”

— Rufus Wainwright

30. “I wish I could just relax sometimes and make some money, but I always feel like I have to prove some kind of big, profound point.”

— Rufus Wainwright

31. “I believe a lot of our lives are spent asleep, and what I’ve been trying to do is hold on to those moments when a little spark cuts through the fog and nudges you.”

— Rufus Wainwright

32. “I’m a big fan of the Pre-Raphaelites. Millais, Edward Burne-Jones, and I realised recently that my music is Pre-Raphaelite in a certain way, in that it reinvents an older era and romanticises it, puts it in this gilded frame.”

— Rufus Wainwright

33. “My love of maple syrup. I’ve been known to knock back a can over a couple days: A swig here, a swig there, and next thing you know it’s gone. It’s a habit I have to stave off. I don’t want to lose all my teeth.”

— Rufus Wainwright

34. “I’m not a terrible smoker, actually. My major addiction, which is horrible, is straight boys.”

— Rufus Wainwright

35. “All these poses of classical torture ruined my mind like a snake in the orchard. I did go from wanting to be someone, now I’m drunk and wearing flip-flops on Fifth Avenue.”

— Rufus Wainwright

36. “I am always writing; if you want to survive in this business, you need to keep working, keep creating and never stop the output.”

— Rufus Wainwright

37. “I’ve developed into quite a swan. I’m one of those people that will probably look better and better as I get older until I drop dead of beauty.”

— Rufus Wainwright

38. “Being uncool is being pretty much the coolest you can be.”

— Rufus Wainwright

39. “Crazy as it sounds, I’m a believer in destiny and serendipity, and I have had cosmic experiences all my life. Something told me I was meant for greater stuff. And look, I’ve had a baby! And I’ve written an opera!”

— Rufus Wainwright

40. “But I don’t even think you hear me at all Under your medieval ceiling behind your biblical wall.”

— Rufus Wainwright

41. “The thing I hate most is false modesty. The artists who are, like, ‘Oh, you know, I’m really not that good. Oh, I can’t believe I’m here.’ I find it vaguely sinister, even.”

— Rufus Wainwright

42. “I bemoan the fact that all my famous friends have places in St. Bart’s and I have to go to Montauk.”

— Rufus Wainwright

43. “I’ve always gravitated towards opera, and the Royal Opera House is quite possibly the greatest opera house on earth.”

— Rufus Wainwright

44. “I’ll always be a boulevardier. I have an extreme reverence and romantic longing for all that is decrepit and fatalistic.”

— Rufus Wainwright

45. “You had to be an over-the-top, demanding, dramatic figure in order to progress as a woman in Europe over the last few hundred years. Now people say, “You’re being such a prima donna,” meaning you’re being hard to deal with or crazy. It’s a bit sexist.”

— Rufus Wainwright

46. “I believe in freedom Freedom’s apparently all I need But who’s ever been free in this world? Who has never had to bleed in this world?”

— Rufus Wainwright

47. “When it comes to sitting down and composing, there is no hesitation, no concern, no critics breathing fire down my neck. For me, writing a song is the purest part of all. No one can mess with that.”

— Rufus Wainwright

48. “Once illness strikes, you realize there’s not a lot of time for you to do what you really need to do. And there’s no time like the present.”

— Rufus Wainwright

49. “Mowing your lawn is against nature.”

— Rufus Wainwright

50. “I have managed to eke out a good and substantial existence. I’m not shoveling gold bricks or anything, but I do very, very well.”

— Rufus Wainwright