Woody Guthrie Quotes

Quotes about:

Guns Songs Walking Writing

It's a folk singer's job to comfort disturbed people and to disturb comfortable people

Woody Guthrie

Jobs, People, Comforting

1753 Copy quote
I would like to see every single soldier on every single side, just take off your helmet, unbuckle your kit, lay down your rifle, and set down at the side of some shady lane, and say, nope, I aint a gonna kill nobody. Plenty of rich folks wants to fight. Give them the guns.

Woody Guthrie

Peace, War, Fighting

Woody Guthrie (1975). “Woody Sez”

750 Copy quote
Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple.

Woody Guthrie

Simple, Genius, Fool

209 Copy quote
Some men rob you with a six-gun -- others rob you with a fountain pen.

Woody Guthrie

Funny, Gun, Men

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I am out to sing songs that will prove to you that this is your world and that if it has hit you pretty hard and knocked you for a dozen loops, no matter what color, what size you are, how you are built, I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself and in your work. And the songs that I sing are made up for the most part by all sorts of folks just about like you.

Woody Guthrie

Song, Pride, Color

"Prophet Singer: The Voice And Vision of Woody Guthrie". Book by Mark Allan Jackson, 2007.

170 Copy quote
The best way to get to know any bunch of people is to go and listen to their music.

Woody Guthrie

People, Way, Bunch

Woody Guthrie (1975). “Woody Sez”

139 Copy quote
If we fix it so's you can't make money on war, we'll all forget what we're killing folks for.

Woody Guthrie

War, Forget, Making Money

140 Copy quote
The note of hope is the only note that can help us or save us from falling to the bottom of the heap of evolution, because, largely, about all a human being is, anyway, is just a hoping machine.

Woody Guthrie

Fall, Machines, Helping

Woody Guthrie, Dave Marsh, Harold Leventhal (1992). “Pastures of plenty: a self-portrait”, Perennial

133 Copy quote
Life has got a habit of not standing hitched. You got to ride it like you find it. You got to change with it. If a day goes by that don't change some of your old notions for new ones, that is just about like trying to milk a dead cow.

Woody Guthrie

Change, Trying, Cows

147 Copy quote
I love a good man outside the law, just as much as I hate a bad man inside the law.

Woody Guthrie

Hate, Men, Law

141 Copy quote
Take it easy, but take it.

Woody Guthrie

Philosophy, Easy, Take It Easy

Woody Guthrie (1983). “Bound for Glory”, p.145, Penguin

87 Copy quote
Was a great high wall there that tried to stop me. Was a great big sign there said private Property but on the back side it didn't say nothing. That side was made for you and me.

Woody Guthrie

Wall, Opportunity, Sides

145 Copy quote
There's several ways of saying what's on your mind. And in states and counties where it ain't too healthy to talk too loud, speak your mind, or even vote like you want to, folks have found other ways of getting the word around. One of the mainest ways is by singing.

Woody Guthrie

Speak Your Mind, Healthy, Singing

Woody Guthrie, Dave Marsh, Harold Leventhal (1992). “Pastures of plenty: a self-portrait”, Perennial

118 Copy quote
The world is filled with people who are no longer needed -- and who try to make slaves of all of us -- and they have their music and we have ours.

Woody Guthrie

People, Trying, World

Woody Guthrie, Dave Marsh, Harold Leventhal (1992). “Pastures of plenty: a self-portrait”, Perennial

132 Copy quote
One day we'll all find out that all of our songs was just little notes in a great big song!

Woody Guthrie

Song, One Day, Littles

Woody Guthrie, Dave Marsh, Harold Leventhal (1992). “Pastures of plenty: a self-portrait”, Perennial

78 Copy quote
Life's pretty tough . . . you're lucky if you live through it.

Woody Guthrie

Lucky, Tough, Ifs

Woody Guthrie (2013). “House of Earth”, p.6, HarperCollins UK

58 Copy quote
Love is the only medicine I believe in.

Woody Guthrie

Believe, Love Is, Medicine

74 Copy quote
Anyone who used more than three chords is just showing off.

Woody Guthrie

Guitar, Three, Used

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As I went walking I saw a sign there And on the sign it said "No Trespassing." But on the other side it didn't say nothing, That side was made for you and me. This land is your land, this land is my land From California to the New York island From the Redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters This land was made for you and me.

Woody Guthrie

New York, Journey, Islands

"This Land Is Your Land" (song) (1956)

71 Copy quote
Let me be known as just the man that told you something you already knew.

Woody Guthrie

Men, He Man, Let Me

Woody Guthrie (1975). “Woody Sez”

17 Copy quote
A folk song is what's wrong and how to fix it or it could be
who's hungry and where their mouth is or
who's out of work and where the job is or
who's broke and where the money is or
who's carrying a gun and where the peace is.

Woody Guthrie

Song, Jobs, Gun

34 Copy quote
All about a human being is, it's a great big hoping machine.

Woody Guthrie

Machines, Bigs, Humans

Source: www.theguardian.com

9 Copy quote
I hate a song that makes you think that you are not any good. I hate a song that makes you think that you are just born to lose. Bound to lose. No good to nobody. No good for nothing. Because you are too old or too young or too fat or too slim too ugly or too this or too that.

Woody Guthrie

Song, Hate, Crazy

"Prophet Singer: The Voice And Vision of Woody Guthrie". Book by Mark Allan Jackson, 2007.

68 Copy quote
A song ain't nothing but a conversation fixed up to where you can talk it over and over without getting tired of it.

Woody Guthrie

Music, Song, Tired

27 Copy quote
Life has a habit of not staying hitched. You got to ride it like you find it.

Woody Guthrie

Like You, Habit, Staying

32 Copy quote

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Woody Guthrie

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Born: July 14, 1912
Died: October 3, 1967
Occupation: Singer-songwriter
Cite this Page: Citation

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