Don Henley Quotations

Sometimes you get the best light from a burning bridge.

I don't mind doing two or three Eagles songs and playing the drums. I'm not one of those artists who's going to sit here and deny the past.

Let hope inspire you, but let not idealism blind you. Don't look back, you can never look back.

A man with a briefcase can steal millions more than any man with a gun.

Mick Jagger can't even make a successful solo album, and the Stones are the biggest rock group that ever was.

Lawsuits should not be used to destroy a viable and independent distribution system. The solution lies in the marketplace and not the courtroom.

The Eagles and the critics were not the best of friends.

I think my first instrument was a ukulele that they gave me. I used to know how to play that pretty well.

I don't care what anybody says about Ringo. I cut my rock-n-roll teeth listening to him.

I'm certainly not thrilled with everything the Eagles did, but there are some things I'm quite proud of.

The Eagles ended on a rather abrupt note, although in retrospect I realize now that it had been ending for quite some time.

I have a bad back partially from playing the drums and singing. I used to have to hold my body in such a position that my spine got out of alignment.

Some records with drum machines on them sound phony and plastic. It all depends on how you use the tools.

I have a certain pool of subject matter that I like to write about, things that interest me: politics, religion, ecology, and relationships between men and women. And that's usually what I focus on.

Between each album I try to gain a new insight that I didn't have before and perhaps write a song about something that I've written about before, but from a fresh viewpoint.

Sometimes songwriters and singers forget that. They get a melody in their head and the notes will take precedence, so that they wind up forcing a word onto a melody. It doesn't ring true.

I try to write conversationally; I try to write like people speak and put the emphasis on the right syllable.

I'm always jotting things down on pieces of paper. I've got pieces of paper all over my house.

I could stand out front and sing Eagles songs that I sing in my set, but I think people enjoy watching me sing and play the drums. It seems to fascinate people. I don't know why.

I'm blessed with a pretty good voice. So just sitting back there banging on the tubs wasn't enough.

Selling eight million copies of your first album will mess you up.

I'm fortunate that I've been in this business long enough that I've earned the right to be left alone by my record company.

I played drums on Keith Carradine's first record.

I could have played more complex stuff. I could have been a busier player. But that's not what I wanted to do. I played what I wanted to play.

It was pretty frightening because as we all know, when large, famous groups breakup, a lot of the members don't survive in solo careers.

Let hope inspire you, but let not idealism blind you. Proverb Don't look back, you can never look back.

I was either standing in your shadow, or blocking your light; Though I kept on trying I could not get it right; For you, girl There's just not enough love in the world

No one in this country need go hungry, and alleviating the problem is primarily a matter of readjusting our priorities. In both the government and the private sector, self-interest has displaced the ideal of community that made this country great. The old world view of "us, we, our" has been replaced by "I, me, mine." The reasons for this are manifold and complex, but at the end of the day, we need to remember that, if one of us is suffering needlessly, all of us are diminished.

In forty-five minutes, it'll all be done. We'll all be good and crispy, but we'll still be number one.

I was flying back from Lubbock and I saw Jesus on the plane, or maybe it was Elvis. You know, they kind of look the same.

If dirt were dollars, I wouldn't have to worry anymore.

O' beautiful for spacious skies But now those skies are threatening They're beating plowshares into swords For this tired old man that we elected king Armchair warriors often fail And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales The lawyers clean up all details Since daddy had to lie But I know a place where we can go And wash away this sin We'll sit and watch the clouds roll by And the tall grass wave in the wind Just lay your head back on the ground And let your hair spill all around me Offer up your best defence But this is the end This is the end of the innocence

It was a pretty good year for predators.

For you girl, there is not enough love in the world.

The land of opportunity spawned a whole new breed of men without souls.

No shame, no solution, no remorse, no retribution, just people selling t-shirts.

This year, notoriety got confused with fame, and the devil is down hearted because there is nothing left for him to claim.

Playing the drums hurts my back.

Anyone who knows anything should know you cannot take a master track of a recording and write another song over the top of it. You just can't do that. You can call it a tribute or whatever you want to call it, but it's against the law. That's a problem with some of the younger generation, they don't understand the concept of intellectual property and copyright.

For every moment of joy Every hour of fear For every winding road that brought me here For every breath, for every day of living This is my Thanksgiving

I now derive physical and spiritual pleasure from gardening and there is tremendous satisfaction in knowing that I could survive almost anywhere if I had to.

We live a protracted adolescence. At some point you must leave the party.

We all know that crap is king, give us dirty laundry.

We're being treated to the wisdom of some puffed up, little fart. Doing exactly what I used to do, pretensions to anarchy and art.

I saw a Dead Head sticker on a Cadillac. A little voice inside my head said, don't look back, you can never look back.

Johnny can get down and Johnny can throw up, but Johnny can't read.

The more I know, the less I understand

You're driving with your eyes closed.

My love for you will still be strong after the boys of summer have gone.

Fame, at one time, was associated with accomplishment, but in this day and age fame and notoriety have become confused.

In the old days, words like sin and Satan had a moral certitude. Today, they're replaced with self-help jargon, words like dysfunction and antisocial behavior, discouraging any responsibility for one's actions..

Don't look back, you can never look back

Who knows how long this will last, now we've come so far so fast.

Insect politics, indifferent universe. Bang your head against the wall, but apathy is worse.

Oh beautiful for spacious skies, but now those skies are threatening. They're beating plowshares into swords for this tired old man we elected king.

Sharper than a serpents tongue, tighter than a bongo drum, quicker than a one night stand, slicker than a mambo band.

I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter but my will gets weak and my thoughts seem to scatter but I think it's about forgiveness... forgiveness, even if you don't love me anymore.

There are no facts, there is no truth, just data to be manipulated.

An angry man can only get so far until he reconciles the way he thinks.

Arm chair warriors often fail.

I said, baby, do you have no shame? She just looked at me, uncomprehendingly, like cows at a passing train.

I remember a time when things were a lot more fun around here, when good was good and evil was evil, before things got fuzzy.

The government bugged the men's room in the local disco lounge.

What the head makes cloudy the heart makes clear

There is not wrong, there is no right, and I will sleep very well tonight.

Cause a man with a briefcase can steal more money than any man with a gun.

The bubble headed bleach blonde comes on at five, she can tell you about the plane crash with a gleam in her eye. It's interesting when people die, gives us dirty laundry.

Nobody on the road. Nobody on the beach. I feel it in the air, the summer's out of reach.

The wisdom that living brings, since I got a telegram from the God of simple things.

I am an expert witness because I say I am.

What are these voices outside love's open door Make us throw off our contentment, and beg for something more? I'm learning to live without you now But I miss you sometimes The more I know, the less I understand All the things I thought I knew, I'm learning again

Lennon's was one of the first voices I emulated when I began to sing. When we held tryouts in my pal's dad's living room for the singer in our band, I sang a Beatles song that Lennon sang. There is something about the timbre of his voice, something that it conveys, that still gets to me. The quality and the poetry of his lyrics. The wry sense of humor. And the boyishness, in the beginning. There are a great many things that touch me about him... Lennon was, to put it in his own words, a 'working-class hero.'

So much time weeping and wailing and shaking our fists, creating enemies that really don't exist.

How can love survive in such a graceless age? The trust and self assurance that lead to happiness, they're the very things we kill.

It's an inside job to learn about forgiving, it's an inside job to hang on to the joy of living.

Remember how you made me crazy, remember how I made you scream.

My creative life is a constant struggle to achieve a balance between letting things flow in and letting things flow out.

Fortune smiles on some, and lets the others go free.

I'm not easy to live with and I know that it's true. However, you're no picnic either, babe, and that's one of the things I liked about you.

I don't want to discount talent and ability, but I still maintain that a lot of it is just sheer desire.

To want what I have, to take what I'm given with grace. For this I pray...

There are people in your life who've come and gone, they let you down and hurt your pride. Better put it all behind you, life goes on, you keep carrying that anger, it'll eat you up inside.

Sometimes to keep it together you've got to leave it alone.

The trouble with you and me my friend, is the trouble with this nation, too many blessings, too little Appreciation.

We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds in the name of destiny and in the name of God.

Armchair warriors often fail - and we've been poisoned by these fairy tales

It's time to get down to the heart of the matter. And I think it's about forgiveness?even if you don't love me any more.

I'm sure The Eagles will go into the studio eventually, probably in the fall after we get back and get rested from the European tour.