Bob Dylan

Music American 1941 310 quotes

Nobel laureate, transformed popular song into literature

Most quoted

"Sometimes you say things in songs even if there's a small chance of them being true. And sometimes you say things that have nothing to do with the truth of what you want to say and sometimes you say things that everyone knows to be true."

— from Interview

"Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call. Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall. For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled. The battle outside ragin' will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls."

— from Song (The Times They Are a-Changin'), 1963

"Some people feel that if you just want to be a rock 'n' roll singer or something, then you should go for it. But I think that if you're not, then you should be honest about it."

— from Interview, 1965

All quotes by Bob Dylan (310)

I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man, just a mortal with potential of a superman.

I Shall Be Released (song) 1967

May your hands always be busy, may your feet always be swift. May you have a strong foundation when the winds of changes shift.

Forever Young (song) 1974

May you stay forever young.

Forever Young (song) 1974

I'm just trying to stay out of the way of the next thing coming.

Chronicles: Volume One (book) 2004

I don't write songs for people to analyze. I write them for people to listen to.

Interview

I'm not saying that I'm better than anybody else, but I'm not saying that I'm not.

Interview

The world is a spinning ball, and we're all just trying to hold on.

Interview

I've always been a loner. I've always been an outsider.

Interview

I'm not interested in being a star. I'm interested in being a musician.

Interview

I don't want to be a star. I just want to be a good songwriter.

Letter to a friend

The times they are a-changin' and so am I.

Letter to Suze Rotolo 1963

I'm not trying to be anyone but myself.

Diary entry

Love is a four-letter word, but it's not a dirty word.

Letter to a lover

Music is my life, my love, my everything.

Diary entry

The world is a stage, and we are all just players.

Letter to a friend

I'm just a simple man trying to make my way in the world.

Letter to his parents

Don't think twice, it's alright.

Letter to Suze Rotolo 1963

I'm not a prophet or a savior, just a man with a guitar.

Diary entry

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind.

Letter to a friend 1962

I'm not a spokesman for a generation, I'm just a guy who writes songs.

Interview notes