Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
You never cared enough to be Black
I cannot afford to watch Fox News.
Well, I grew up on the blues, man!
The revolution will not be televised.
I was a piano player before I was a poet.
Colour is not the issue in America; class is.
All the dreams you show up in are not your own.
The first revolution is when you change your mind
Our accomplishments show what kind of people we are.
Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something.
Every show that sells out is like a hero's welcome for me.
You should be able to do anything you can afford as an adult.
Man is a complex being: he makes deserts bloom - and lakes die.
My songs were always about the tone of voice rather than the words.
I am honestly not sure how capable I am of love. And I'm not sure why.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers, The revolution will be live.
Schedule? I have no schedule. There is no hurry. I work when I want to.
The revolution that takes place in your head, nobody will ever see that.
Angel dust won't go away. Somefolks who were smoking it were going away.
The way you get to know yourself is by the expression on other people's faces.
I don't see any independent position that I'm in; it's rather inter-dependent.
Womenfolk raised me and I was full-grown before I knew I came from a broken home
I don't mind being criticized. I enjoy being criticized personally, not by rumor.
Womenfolk raised me, and I was full-grown before I knew I came from a broken home.
I was one of the first three black students to go to an all-white school in Tennessee.
A good poet feels what his community feels. Like if you stub your toe, the rest of your body hurts.
If you aren't having no fun, die, because you're running a worthless program, far as I'm concerned.
Your life has to consist of more than 'Black people should unite.' You hope they do, but not twenty-four hours a day.
As for money - when I have it, it's great. When I don't, I go get some. I've been a dishwasher, a gardener, a cleaner.
America .. the international Jekyll and Hyde ... the land of a thousand disguises, sneaks up on you but rarely surprises
I learnt early on that your audience take the songs in the way they want to rather than the way you might want them too.
I tour more than I need to, more than is good for you. But it's my favorite part of music. I much prefer it to studio work.
Music has the power to make me feel good like nothing else does. It gives me some peace for a while. Takes me back to who I really am.
Every once in a while, you live long enough to get the respect that people didn't want to give while you were trying to become a senior citizen.
You can have a poem like "B-Movie" and sum up thirty conversations that people have had on the subject, but I wrote it down, and other people didn't.
A lot of folks are so busy trying to get their groceries together that they don't have time to do research. I have time. Maybe that's the main difference.
I try not to take people who haven't really thought out what they're doing too seriously. I try not to let them get in the way of what I feel I need to do.
The way you get to know yourself is by the expressions on other people's faces, because that's the only thing that you can see, unless you carry a mirror about.
I don't think people in power have the potential to do anything like that to me. I feel as though as long as our music is available, folks are going to hear it.
If we meet somebody who has never made a mistake, lets help them start a religion. Until then, were just going to meet other humans and help to make each other better.
Well the first thing I want to say is mandate, my ass... We've been convinced that 26% of the registered voters is actually a mandate. We're all actors in this I suppose.
I work hard at it [delivery of lyrics], just like I worked hard at getting my masters degree. It's not just something I sit down and do. You have to learn and keep learning.
I was a better writer when I was teaching. I was constantly going over the basics and constantly reminding myself, as I reminded my students, what made a good story, a good poem.
I don't suspect that in many instances the artists who are dedicated in that fashion to the progress of that community are as well protected by the community as might be necessary.
I think a whole lot of stuff gets by people - I could name half a dozen groups that do songs that are openly supportive of experimentation with drugs, nobody ever said anything to them.
If someone comes to you and asks for help, and you can help them, you're supposed to help them. Why wouldn't you? You have been put in the position somehow to be able to help this person.
I thought that some of my best records was when there wasn't a lot of work being done on it, like 'Winter in America' and 'Secrets' and when there weren't a whole lot of people in the studios.
I think that the more people who speak out, and say things and take stands on positions that will better our community, the better off each and every other individual artist or otherwise, will be.
The truth is that in this country you here you're more likely to be harassed, hurt, or killed if you're a minister speaking about progress for Black people than if you are a sure enough revolutionary.
Oftentimes, the way it seems to be is that our artists in particular point themselves out as spokesmen for a certain constituency in a community, and thereby place themselves in that vulnerable position.