On family:
"My dad was a tyrant. He used to physically beat the crap out of us. "

"He just had a very unique way of expressing himself physically with his kids."

"The one thing that kept our family together was the music. The only thing that our family would share emotionally was to have our dad cry over something the kids did with music. "

"Brian was the oldest, I was in the middle and Carl was the baby. I was the troublemaker. Brian got great grades and Carl got the kind of grades I did. I failed everything. I was too busy fighting and running wild."

"My mom had to beg the guys to let me play. I couldn't even play the drums right - Brian had to show me on (our first) song. "

"My mom had to beat them to let me in the group. She said 'Come on, Brian, let him in or it'll break his heart! Mike and Brian went,  'Nah, we don't want him'. But then Brian softened up, gave me a hug, and said, 'Aww, what the hell.' "

On the music:
"I made a dollar a day sweeping a laundry out. Then we made a record that was number two in Los Angeles. We got so excited hearing it on the radio that Carl threw up."

"Nothing will ever top the expression on Brian's face, ever...(hearing that song on the radio) was the all time moment"

"The Beach Boys are not a superstar group. The music is the superstar of the group."

"I can tell you the day The Beach Boys will no longer exist - never. We'll be on stage in wheelchairs."

"There will always be a Beach Boys. Being a Beach Boy is like being in love"

"If there wasn't The Beach Boys and there wasn't music, I wouldn't even talk to them. But through the music I fell in love with my brothers."

"I hope that the karma will f*** up Mike Love's meditation forever. That album is an embarrassment to my life. It should self-destruct." -- referring to the MIU album, 1978

We went suddenly from being a very large group into being a very small group again. It broke my heart. It hurt. - 1977

On Brian:
"Oh, he exists all right. Look around you...he's everywhere."

"By the time people get close to an accurate picture of Brian Wilson - if ever - he's gonna be far beyond them again, and I can dig his frustration" - 1976

"Everything I do is a stepping stone from Brian - he's taught me so much."

"He is a master, musically.  I am dumbfounded at him. I am in awe of him. I've grown up with him and watched him go through changes, and he is the most vulnerable human being I know. The depth of that guy...I mean...he changed the world with his influence. I'm devoting my life to Brian on a musical level, and the rest of the group feels the same way. When Brian plays something for us, we just gape. It gets very emotional."

"The thing I wonder about is where does Brian's creative spark come from? Not his subjects or anything, but his spark. What makes it so great for me is that I really don't know.  There's a mystery behind Brian, even to me. Creatively, where in the f*** does the guy go? Where is he coming from?" - 1976

"We'd be in the studio and he would play us a song...we'd start crying, it was so great...I mean it was like 'how could this possibly be happening? How'd you write that?' "

"Brian is The Beach Boys. He is the band. We're his f***ing messengers. He is all of it. Period. We're nothing. He's everything"

On Life:
" I don't know why everybody doesn't live at the beach, on the ocean. It makes no sense to me, hanging around the dirty, ugly-as-shit city. That's why I always loved and was proud to be a Beach Boy; I always loved the image. On the beach, you can live in bliss." - 1976

"All I need is a big surfboard and a piano." - 1969

"They say I live a fast life. Maybe I just like a fast life. I wouldn't give it up for anything in the world. It won't last forever, either. But the memories will."