Simon Cowell
It's the government's job to encourage entrepreneurialism and investment. Most importantly, it's the government's duty to inspire confidence.
I've had Botox, but then again pretty much everyone I know has. To me, Botox is no more unusual than toothpaste. It works. You do it once a year - who cares?
As an actor, I really like Philip Seymour Hoffman. I think he's a genius.
If I was gay, why wouldn't I admit it? It wouldn't harm me.
I've never bought a Dylan record. A singing poet? It just bores me to tears. I've got to tell you, if I had 10 Dylans in the final of 'American Idol,' we would not be getting 30 million viewers a week. I don't believe the Bob Dylans of this world would make 'American Idol 'a better show.
I should get a dog. I would get a rescue dog. I like mutts; I don't care. I would probably get a three-legged dog no one else would want.
Would I like kids? If I knew I could be - and how could I put this delicately - faithful, then yes. I do like kids.
It's not my habit to kiss and tell. I've never done it.
If I had one dog, I'd want a hundred. If I had one kid, I'd probably want a hundred. I mean, it's just the way I am.
If your lifeguard duties were as good as your singing, a lot of people would be drowning.
I think you have to judge everything based on your personal taste. And if that means being critical, so be it. I hate political correctness. I absolutely loathe it.
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.
The love I have for my ex-girlfriends will always be there, so I think that's true love.
I hate belongings. I hate clutter. It really bothers me because I can't think properly. If you've got distractions in front of you, your mind goes nuts.
I like to know why a video has suddenly gone viral, why a song has broken, why a TV show is suddenly rating out of pattern... I'm pretty good at understanding why things are becoming popular.
My own saying is: 'Create the hype, but don't ever believe it.'
For the music business, social networking is brilliant. Just when you think it's doom and gloom and you have to spend millions of pounds on marketing and this and that, you have this amazing thing now called fan power. The whole world is linked through a laptop. It's amazing. And it's free. I love it. It's absolutely brilliant.
Choosing how you vote should not be a snap verdict based on a few minutes of television.
The minute you start assuming that the audience is very happy to see the same show again, you're dead.
I've always treated the music business as a business.
The young people working for me are ambitious and hard-working. That work ethic has always been a trait of the British.
I'm not sure who has the right to say that you have better taste than somebody else, because essentially what you're doing is calling millions of people morons.
Every time I sat in a chemistry lesson, I thought, 'What am I doing this for? I don't ever want to be in a job that involves a Bunsen burner.'
Anyone who goes on 'The X Factor' to make big money will be in for a big shock.
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.
I don't like kids that are pushed into things by stage mums, but when I can see they are having a good time, they're excited and enjoying the process, then I think it's wrong to discriminate.
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.
Everyone who turns up on 'X Factor' does it because a door has been closed to them at some time in their lives, and this is the only shot they have got.
Sometimes when you have a record out, you think you're going to go in at No. 1 but you go in at No. 8. So your second record has to be better. That's how I treat it.
Not everybody is perfect, and I don't think we should be looking for perfect people.
When someone asks, 'Does success make you into a monster?' I always say, 'No, it enables you to be a monster.'
Every show I've ever, you know, produced, essentially it's the show I want to watch myself.
You are a saucy little thing aren't you?
I don't have sophisticated tastes. I have average tastes. If you looked in my collection of DVDs, you'd see 'Jaws' and 'Star Wars.' In the book library, you'd see John Grisham and Sidney Sheldon. And if you look in my fridge, it's, like, children's food - chips, milkshakes, yogurt.
When I think of invention, I always think of America. You're always seeing ads: 'Have you got the next big idea?' There seems to be that spirit in America of inventions and inventors.
When I look at it now, the whole punk thing is sort of comedy in a weird way.
I'm going to give all my money away, eventually. I don't believe in all this hand-down stuff. Even if I had kids, I don't think I'd want to give them everything.
The end of the animal trade would leave more time to trap or beat to death pop star wannabes.
We have hated the French for years. Now you have just joined the club. It makes you much more likable.
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.
The object of this competition is not to be mean to the losers but to find a winner. The process makes you mean because you get frustrated.
If you've got a big mouth and you're controversial, you're going to get attention.
I do a couple of hundred press-ups a day but I haven't been to a gym in years.
I don't think I can do this anymore.
I think that by ignoring the show you're ignoring the audience who put you there.
If we had to choose one American Idol to go out to dinner with, it would be Fantasia. There are no airs and graces about her... I like her.
Shave off your beard and wear a dress. You would be a great female impersonator.
I have always hated celebrities lecturing people on politics. So forgive me. But I am passionate about this country. I am equally passionate about the potential of the people who live here.
Whether they run a record company or a grocery store, every boss will tell you you're in big trouble if you're borrowing more than you can ever afford to pay back. Delaying the pain for future generations is suicidal. We've got to start getting the deficit down right now, not next year.