“American music has infiltrated the entire world enough as it is. Mexican music must be defended with vigilance.”

“Art is feminine.”

“Art is feminine... Look, if you're handsome and young and beautiful, well, people are always going to say that you're gay.”

“As Juan Gabriel, music is my religion, and mariachi is my devotion. And my songs are my prayers.”

“Everyone who gave me food, who took away my hunger, inspired me to compose. They told me their stories, and I had no other way to console them than with a piece of music, and that is how I learned. I did not resolve their problems with my songs, but I created a moment of release.”

“I compose songs with a lot of simplicity because my school has been the streets, and people have been my books.”

“I enjoy every moment because I believe that once we die, that's it. We're not coming back.”

“I'm a person who, when I set out to write, I write. It's just like when you set out to eat, you eat, or when you set out to sleep, you sleep. I don't do somersaults to write something. I just do it.”

“I've learned during my life that if I am in hell, I make my own glory. I've also been in glory, and perhaps I've made my own hell, but I certainly don't take anyone down with me.”

“Lovers come back. Styles come back. But time? It never comes back.”

“Mexico is a very mom-centered culture. You'll find stores open on Father's Day, but never on Mother's Day. For us, mothers are very important.”

“Mexico is known throughout the world thanks to mariachi.”

“Money can be taken away from you, by the IRS or by pistol. That's why I always measure riches in terms of wisdom. No one can ever take from you what you know.”

“My mother didn't know what to do with me.”

“My thoughts, my feelings, my spirit, they are all in Spanish.”

“People who know Mexico know me because I'm so much a part of Mexico.”

“Since I was sent to an orphanage, and I saw very little of my mother, I can counsel mothers that you shouldn't abandon your children. Before you bring a child into the world, think deeply about things, so that they lack absolutely nothing, least of all love.”

“The artist knows how to sing, not how to count.”

“There are no rules when I compose songs.”

“There are times when I'm really happy and I write something really sad, and vice versa.”

“They say fame is important and that maintaining your fame is even more important. But to me, the most important thing is to deserve the respect of your fans.”

“What I say is what I feel, whether anyone likes it or not.”

“When I have the opportunity to work, I organize a whole party - like what you perhaps saw at the Grammys.”

“When I was very young, I sold the rights to my work... through 2000.”

“Work is my best friend.”

“You don't ask about what can be seen.”