Top 120 Simon Cowell Quotes (2025 Update)
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101. “There’s one argument that says we shouldn’t be putting these kids on under the age of 16. I think you’ve got to take it case by case.”

— Simon Cowell

102. “I think that by ignoring the show you’re ignoring the audience who put you there.”

— Simon Cowell

103. “Sincerity is romantic. I don’t think you need gestures.”

— Simon Cowell

104. “I do see a big difference in the American work ethic compared to the British work ethic in a lot of artists.”

— Simon Cowell

105. “Well, it’s basically the viewers who determine it. We – well, basically the producers and myself chose the people we felt had the best reaction, you know, through the press, the Internet, the people we thought deserved a second chance. And they’ve chosen a winner, I believe.”

— Simon Cowell

106. “I grew up when the whole Motown thing was huge. The charts in those days were dominated by groups more than solo artists at one point.”

— Simon Cowell

107. “I don’t want to tell a 15 or 14 year old what they should be doing. I want them to tell me. And that’s what I got when I met Justin Bieber for the first time.”

— Simon Cowell

108. “I met someone the other night who’s 28 years old, and he hasn’t worked a day since he left college because he’s pursuing a dream he’ll never, ever realize: He thinks he’s a great singer. Actually, he’s crap.”

— Simon Cowell

109. “My heart, my lungs, my blood – they’ve all been checked. I remember one of the doctors almost being disappointed when he showed me the results because he couldn’t wait to tell me what smoking was doing to me. But there was nothing there.”

— Simon Cowell

110. “Normally if I go to one of these things I’m in and out in five minutes, but at Pride of Britain I stay to the end. It’s a fantastic show. But it’s incredibly hard on the night when you meet all the kids and hear their stories. They do get to you.”

— Simon Cowell

111. “I didn’t have any qualifications when I left school – I had three O-levels.”

— Simon Cowell

112. “They understand what their market is and who they should be selling records to, and most importantly, they know the kind of artist that they want to be, but they have to do it themselves. You don’t want a 13-year-old singing some awful song from a musical.”

— Simon Cowell

113. “Music should always be polarizing. What one person likes, somebody else hates. And I hate that kind of snobbery in pop music. The fact that so many people are getting upset over this one song is hysterical. And if people like it, that’s great.”

— Simon Cowell

114. “If I tape an 11-hour day, guess which parts end up on air. Not the bits when I’m pleasant, but the parts when I’m obnoxious.”

— Simon Cowell

115. “When I was young and we got caught pinching apples, we got a smack from the local policeman. Today if that happened he would be sued. There is a tendency to punish the victim, not the criminal. If someone broke into my house or my mum’s house, I worry that the burglar has more rights than me.”

— Simon Cowell

116. “I want people to understand that from the minute Lady Gaga arrived, she created a new set of rules: being different is good; embrace it.”

— Simon Cowell

117. “There’s no need for me to get married. I live with someone; we’re happy; end of story.”

— Simon Cowell

118. “If I had to say who is the number-one most powerful figure is in reality TV, it’s very easy. It is the general public. They’re the only people who have power now.”

— Simon Cowell

119. “If I went to a psychiatrist, it would be a long session. I’ve always thought that I do have a number of issues that probably need dealing with, because I am quite odd in some ways.”

— Simon Cowell

120. “You have to be original. The people creating a buzz on YouTube are taking risks, and they’re doing something different. I like it when 15 year-olds come on and tell me what to do rather than the other way around.”

— Simon Cowell

121. “I’m obsessed with cleanliness for myself, so I will take a bath three times a day, sometimes a steam twice a day in addition to that.”

— Simon Cowell

122. “Rules equal boredom, and I don’t like that.”

— Simon Cowell

123. “I’ve always been petrified of working for a boss who I didn’t like but who I was in fear of, because I wanted my salary.”

— Simon Cowell

124. “If I said to most of the people who auditioned, ‘Good job, awesome, well done,’ it would have made me actually look and feel ridiculous. It’s quite obvious most of the people who turned up for this audition were hopeless.”

— Simon Cowell

125. “I’ve always treated the music business as a business.”

— Simon Cowell

126. “I actually don’t understand a word Paula’s saying anymore. It’s like a new language.”

— Simon Cowell

127. “I think America is a hard nut to crack. But once you get a toehold, it’s a great place for an entrepreneur because people are so enthusiastic, and you have the most enthusiastic audiences in world.”

— Simon Cowell

128. “I could just sit back and get someone to spin my achievements, I suppose, but when I see others do it, I always think, ‘Why are you telling me how successful you are?’ I am always suspicious of those kinds of boasts.”

— Simon Cowell

129. “I’ve never liked the idea you have to be a certain age to be a pop star. I like the idea that anybody can enter, anybody can compete.”

— Simon Cowell

130. “So I would only feel guilt if I misled somebody who was terrible.”

— Simon Cowell

131. “I never knew how much love and pride I would feel.”

— Simon Cowell

132. “Every show I’ve ever, you know, produced, essentially it’s the show I want to watch myself.”

— Simon Cowell

133. “I have always hated celebrities lecturing people on politics.”

— Simon Cowell

134. “I was living life like in one of those Disney movies, where I genuinely believed nobody was ever going to die.”

— Simon Cowell

135. “I think if you’re an unhappy person, you’re always going to be an unhappy person. You’re probably going to be less unhappy if your business is doing well, if I’m being honest.”

— Simon Cowell

136. “I love producing shows. And so when you’re on a show where other people are making decisions you don’t necessarily agree with it, after a while you start to feel like a passenger.”

— Simon Cowell