Harshness to me is giving somebody false hopes and not following through. That’s harsh. Telling some guy or some girl who’ve got zero talent that they have zero talent actually is a kindness.
Simon Cowell - Mean - Kind - Criticism - Hope - Lies - Truth - Talent

I was slightly cynical of the American mentality before I came over here, but now I preach it. Here, no one's going to tear you down if you buy yourself a $300,000 car. They're likely to say: "Well, you probably worked hard for it. Good luck to you."
Simon Cowell - Cynical - America - Hard Work - Luck - Success - Cars

On one level, going bust didn't bother me. It was the 80s, and there wasn't the stigma about bankruptcy that you might think. My mates weren't bothered. My dad was in business.. he knew that it happened, too. He loaned me the money to bail me out, and I got a loan from the bank to pay him back.
Simon Cowell - Bankrupt - Friends - Business - Banks - Loan - Family - Money

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.
Simon Cowell - Criticism - Political Correctness - Hate

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. Kids turn up unrehearsed, wearing the wrong clothes, singing out of tune and you can either say, "Good job" and patronize them or tell them the truth, and sometimes the truth is perceived as mean.
Simon Cowell - Mean - Truth - Criticism - Competition - Losing - Winning - Frustration - Clothes

My attitude is, if someone's going to criticize me, tell me to my face.
Simon Cowell - Criticism - Attitude

My life honestly isn't as weird as people think it is. I work longer hours, maybe I have a bit more money, but fundamentally, I'm not really that different.
Simon Cowell - Hard Work - Money - Weird - Rich - Life

If you've got a big mouth and you're controversial, you're going to get attention.
Simon Cowell - Media - Controversy

The biggest shock when I lost it all was the realization that so much of my life had been out of my control. When I started to make the money back, I vowed that it would never happen again. I bought things only when I could afford them. There was no big mortgage, no cars on hire purchase. I remember buying a TR6 sports car for £6,000, and funnily enough it gave me more pleasure than the Porsche ever had.
Simon Cowell - Bankrupt - Loan - Money - Losing - Life - Mortgage - Cars

Not everybody is perfect, and I don't think we should be looking for perfect people.
Simon Cowell - Perfect - People

I can't think of one person who is on TV who isn't vain. It's the nature of the beast. If you are on TV then you have a vanity, for sure. Just admit it! Why not?
Simon Cowell - Truth - Media - Television - Vain