50 Inspiring Bob Dylan Quotes On Music & Life
Last updated on December 27th, 2023 at 11:14 am
“Bob Dylan, Santana, Joan Baez 3105840113“, by Heinrich Klaffs, is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Robert Allen Zimmerman, by the name of Bob Dylan, was born on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. He is an American folk-rock singer-songwriter who is regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Most of his song lyrics are about philosophical, social, and political issues. His song “The Time They Are a-Changin” became an anthem for the civil rights and anti-war movements.
Bob Dylan sold millions of records and received numerous awards such as, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Grammy, Golden Globe and Academy Awards, and in 2016 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Bob Dylan Quotes
“A song is anything that can walk by itself.”
BOB DYLAN, Sleeve notes on the album Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
“To live outside the law, you must be honest.”
BOB DYLAN, ‘Absolutely Sweet Marie’ (1965)
“Don’t follow leaders
And watch the parkin’ meters.”
BOB DYLAN, ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ (1965)
“The pump don’t work
‘Cause the vandals took the handles.”
BOB DYLAN, Subterranean Homesick Blues
“I don’t call myself a poet, because I don’t like the word.”
BOB DYLAN, Said at a press conference, as seen in the Martin Scorsese documentary No Direction Home
“When you asked me how I was doing, was that some kind of joke”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: Since 1962 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2014) – ISBN: 9781476797700
“There are many here among us Who feel that life is but a joke”
BOB DYLAN, All Along the Watchtower (1968)
“They asked me for some collateral and I pulled down my pants.”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: Since 1962 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2014) – ISBN: 9781476797700
“And for each unharmful gentle soul misplaced inside a jail…”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: Since 1962 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2014) – ISBN: 9781476797700
“Situations have ended sad,
Relationships have all been bad.”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: 1961-2012 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2016) – ISBN: 9781451648768
“You don’t need a weather man To know which way the wind blows”
BOB DYLAN, Subterranean Homesick Blues (1965)
“Ah, but I was so much older then,
I’m younger than that now.”
BOB DYLAN, ‘My Back Pages’ (1964 song)
“Well the world of research is going berserk Too much paperwork”
BOB DYLAN, Released August 29, 2006 by Sony BMG, Modern Times, Nettue Moore
“In the home of the brave, Jefferson turning over in his grave.”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: Since 1962 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2014) – ISBN: 9781476797700
“May your heart always be joyful. May your song always be sung.”
BOB DYLAN, Forever Young: with audio recording (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2012) – ISBN: 9781442468160
“In ceremonies of the horsemen,
Even the pawn must hold a grudge.”
BOB DYLAN, ‘Love Minus Zero/No Limit’ 1965)
“How can the life of such a man be in the palm of some fools hand?”
BOB DYLAN, Bob Dylan – E-Z Play Today Songbook (ed. Hal Leonard Corporation, 2012) – ISBN: 9781480347403
“I said, you know they refused Jesus, too. He said, you’re not him.”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: Since 1962 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2014) – ISBN: 9781476797700
“Fearing not that I’d become my enemy In the instant that I preach”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: 1961-2012 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2016) – ISBN: 9781451648768
“Good and bad, I define these terms, quite clear, no doubt, somehow.”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: Since 1962 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2014) – ISBN: 9781476797700
“The first thing I know, I’m in a card game. Then I’m in a crap game.”
BOB DYLAN, Bob Dylan in his own words (ed. Music Sales Corp, 1978)
“If there’s an original thought out there, I could use one right now.”
BOB DYLAN, Lyrics:1962-2012 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2013) – ISBN: 9780743246293
“One who sings with his tongue on fire, gargles in the rat race choir.”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: Since 1962 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2014) – ISBN: 9781476797700
“Disillusioned words like bullets bark as human gods aim for their mark.”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: Since 1962 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2014) – ISBN: 9781476797700
“Don’t know which one is worse, doing your own thing or just being cool.”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: Since 1962 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2014) – ISBN: 9781476797700
It’s not me. It’s the songs. I’m just the postman. I deliver the songs.
BOB DYLAN, No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan (1986)
“You just don’t wake up one day and decide that you need to write songs.”
BOB DYLAN, Chronicles (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2011) – ISBN: 9780857209580
“Sold my guitar to the baker’s son for a few crumbs and a place to hide.”
BOB DYLAN, Lyrics:1962-2012 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2013) – ISBN: 9780743246293
“Satan will give you a little taste, then he’ll move in with rapid speed.”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: Since 1962 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2014) – ISBN: 9781476797700
“My songs always sound a lot better in person than they do on the record.”
BOB DYLAN, The fiddler now upspoke (ed. 1995)
“Every cause that ever I fought, I fought it full without regret or shame.”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: Since 1962 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2014) – ISBN: 9781476797700
“Why wait any longer for the one you love When he’s standing in front of you”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: Since 1962 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2014) – ISBN: 9781476797700
“How many years can some people exist
before they’re allowed to be free…”
BOB DYLAN, The fiddler now upspoke (ed. 1995)
“Every day your memory grows dimmer – it doesn’t haunt me like it did before.”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: Since 1962 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2014) – ISBN: 9781476797700
I hurt easy, I just don’t show it. You can hurt someone and not even know it.”
BOB DYLAN, Lyrics:1962-2012 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2013) – ISBN: 9780743246293
“How many times can a man turn his head, and pretend that he just doesn’t see?”
BOB DYLAN, Performed Literature: Words and Music by Bob Dylan (ed. University Press of Amer, 2001) – ISBN: 9780761819479
“You call yourself what you want to call yourself. This is the land of the free”
BOB DYLAN, Bob Dylan: Inspirations (ed. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2005) – ISBN: 9780740754555
“Ain’t it just like the night to play tricks when you’re tryin’ to be so quiet?”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: Since 1962 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2014) – ISBN: 9781476797700
“I’m not the kind of cat that’s going to cut off an ear if I can’t do something.”
BOB DYLAN, Dylan on Dylan: The Essential Interviews (ed. 2007)
“The truth was obscure, Too profound and too pure, To live it you had to explode”
BOB DYLAN, The Lyrics: Since 1962 (ed. Simon and Schuster, 2014) – ISBN: 9781476797700
You may also be interested to read Top 30 Powerful Eminem Quotes To Motivate You.
Sudhanshu Kumar Rai
He is a tech enthusiast with a computer engineering degree who finds joy in life's simple pleasures. Beyond his tech endeavors, Sudhanshu is into music, particularly Hip Hop. Inspired by quotes like 50 Cent's "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" and Tupac's wisdom, he loves to perform and inspire through his music. When not working, Sudhanshu can be found reading tech blogs, listening to rap music, and enjoying a game or two.
