Bob Dylan
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)
The only way to do great work is to love what you do.
I'm not a guru, I'm just a guy who plays guitar.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
I'm just trying to make sense of it all.
The best way to predict the future is to create it.
I'm not a spokesman for anyone but myself.
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
I'm just a storyteller, that's all I am.
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
I'm not a folk singer, I'm a song and dance man.
I don't have to be me, I'm just a guy who plays the guitar.
A song is a song. It's a poem set to music. It's a story, a narrative. It's a feeling, a mood. It's a lot of things.
I don't write political songs. I write songs that are true.
I don't think of myself as a spokesman for a generation. I'm just a musician.
I just write songs. I don't know what they mean. I just write them.
I'm not trying to say anything. I'm just trying to sing a song.
I don't think about my songs after I write them. I just write them and then I go on to the next one.
I don't consider myself a poet. I'm a song and dance man.
I'm not a prophet or a savior. I'm just a guy who sings songs.
I don't think about my legacy. I just think about the next song.
Contemporaries of Bob Dylan
Other Musics born within 50 years of Bob Dylan (1941).