Phil Ochs Quotes

Quotes about:

• In such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty.

  Phil Ochs

  Ugly, Protest

  Liner notes for studio album "Pleasures of the Harbor" by Phil Ochs, October 31, 1967.

  54 Copy quote

• In every political community there are varying shades of political opinion. One of the shadiest of these is the liberals. An outspoken group on many subjects. Ten degrees to the left of center in good times. Ten degrees to the right of center if it affects them personally. Here, then, is a lesson in safe logic.

  Phil Ochs

  Political Opinions, Community, Groups

  "Phil Ochs in Concert". Live album by Phil Ochs (introduction to the song "Love Me, I'm a Liberal"), March 1966.

  38 Copy quote

• Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt.

  Phil Ochs

  World, Defeat, Absurdity

  "Complete Phil Ochs: Chords of Fame". Book edited by Tom Nolan and Mark Eliot, 1978.

  33 Copy quote

• One good song with a message can bring a point more deeply to more people than a thousand rallies.

  Phil Ochs

  Song, Peace, People

  Broadside Magazine (1962), later quoted in James E. Perone "Songs of the Vietnam Conflict" (p. 19), 2001.

  39 Copy quote

• The fortunes of the entire world may well ride on the ability of young Americans to face the responsibilities of an old America gone mad.

  Phil Ochs

  Responsibility, America, Mad

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

  25 Copy quote

• And if there's any hope for America, it lies in a revolution, and if there's any hope for a revolution in America, it lies in getting Elvis Presley to become Che Guevara.

  Phil Ochs

  Lying, Redneck, America

  Liner notes for compilation album "The Broadside Tapes 1" by Phil Ochs, 1989.

  38 Copy quote

• It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the act of struggle itself, not what you win. Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's life.

  Phil Ochs

  Wisdom, Art, Struggle

  "Complete Phil Ochs: Chords of Fame". Book edited by Tom Nolan and Mark Eliot, 1978.

  24 Copy quote

• You can do right or you can do what you are told. And the prize of the victory will belong to the bold.

  Phil Ochs

  Inspirational, Victory, Prize

  13 Copy quote

• Love is a rainbow curving down from the sky, falling crystals of color, shades of warm that never die.

  Phil Ochs

  Love, Fall, Color

  17 Copy quote

• It's always the old to lead us to the war. It's always the young to fall.

  Phil Ochs

  War, Fall, Young

  "I Ain't Marchin' Anymore" (song) (1965)

  18 Copy quote

• So good to be alive when the eulogies are read.

  Phil Ochs

  Eulogy, Alive

  4 Copy quote

• America is two Mack trucks colliding on a superhighway because all the drivers are on amphetamines.

  Phil Ochs

  Two, America, Amphetamines

  Liner notes for compilation album "The Broadside Tapes 1" by Phil Ochs, 1989.

  59 Copy quote

• In the courtroom, watch the balance of the scalesIf the price is right, there's time for more appealsThe strings are pulled, the switch is stayedThe finest lawyers fees are paidAnd a rich man never died upon the chair

  Phil Ochs

  Men, Balance, Watches

  Song: The Iron Lady, Album: I Ain't Marching Anymore

  7 Copy quote

• Step outside the guidelines of the official umpires and make your own rules and your own reality.

  Phil Ochs

  Reality, Sea, Umpires

  "An American Ordeal: The Antiwar Movement of the Vietnam Period". Book by Charles DeBenedetti, 1990.

  9 Copy quote

• Evil is done in hopes that evil surrenders, but the deeds of the devil are burned too deep in the embers, and world of hunger in vengeance will always remember.

  Phil Ochs

  Forgiveness, Evil, Done

  Song: We Seek No Wider War

  11 Copy quote

• Leaving America is like losing twenty pounds and finding a new girlfriend.

  Phil Ochs

  Girlfriend, America, Leaving

  Liner notes for compilation album "The Broadside Tapes 1" by Phil Ochs, 1989.

  8 Copy quote

• Beneath the greatest love lies a hurricane of hate.

  Phil Ochs

  Love, Hate, Lying

  8 Copy quote

• The truest protest is beauty.

  Phil Ochs

  Protest, Truest

  15 Copy quote

• A protest song is a song that's so specific that you cannot mistake it for bullshit.

  Phil Ochs

  Song, Mistake, Bullshit

  Liner notes for compilation album "The Broadside Tapes 1" by Phil Ochs, 1989.

  68 Copy quote

• Maybe we should raise our voices, ask somebody why. But demonstrations are a drag, besides we're much too high.

  Phil Ochs

  Voice, Politics, Should

  Song: Outside of a Small Circle of Friends, Album: Pleasures of the Harbor

  11 Copy quote

• Call it peace or call it treason / call it love or call it reason / but I ain't marching anymore

  Phil Ochs

  Reason, Treason

  Song: I Ain't Marching Anymore

  7 Copy quote

• There is an urgent need for Americans to look deeply into themselves and their actions, and musical poetry is perhaps the most effective mirror available. Every newspaper headline is a potential song.

  Phil Ochs

  Song, Mirrors, Musical

  "Phil Ochs in Concert". Live album by Phil Ochs (introduction to the song "The Marines Have Landed on the Shores of Santo Domingo"), March 1966.

  9 Copy quote

• The final story, the final chapter of Western man, I believe, lies in Los Angeles.

  Phil Ochs

  Lying, Believe, Men

  Liner notes for compilation album "The Broadside Tapes 1" by Phil Ochs, 1989.

  14 Copy quote

• It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the act of struggle itself, not what you win.

  Phil Ochs

  Struggle, Winning, Politics

  "Complete Phil Ochs: Chords of Fame". Book edited by Tom Nolan and Mark Eliot, 1978.

  9 Copy quote

• I'm gonna give all I've got to giveCross my heart, and I hope to live.

  Phil Ochs

  Heart, Giving, My Heart

  Song: Cross My Heart

  4 Copy quote

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