Holly Near Quotations

White middle- and upper-class men have a longer journey to go than many people.

If you have the guts to keep making mistakes, your wisdom and intelligence leap forward with huge momentum.

Music can be used against us as much as it can be used for us. Muzak can put a whole nation to sleep, whereas a lullaby is intended to put a child to sleep in a sweet way.

You can't just leave out one part; the bread won't rise if the yeast isn't there.

Why do we kill people who are killing people to show that killing people is wrong?

The war on drugs is a war against the communities.

We who are interested in relative truth have to keep digging for it and not let ourselves be sucked under.

To be always in a state of wonder is a kind of sensitivity that can sometimes be an extraordinary blessing and sometimes a real pain.

I like this life. I like it when it's hard, and I like it better when it's not, but I know you don't get the sweet part without the bitter.

Part of being an artist is being willing to be shocked, being willing to be surprised, being willing to be hurt.

The women's movement completely changed attitudes all over the world in ways we'll never be able to count.

When we make mistakes, say, I'm blessed that I have an opportunity to learn from this.

Once women are not excluded, I don't think any of us will give a damn what pronouns are used. That wasn't the point.

It's been important to me to be a good activist, a good thinker, a good musician, a good singer, and a good entertainer. You can't do it all, but I have walked those delicate lines as best I know how.

Leaping away from my mistakes has propelled me forward. It has great force behind it. It makes for great storytelling.

People love to hear the mistakes you've made.

My creativity and my political work are linked. I don't do this work out of guilt or out of responsibility.

My parents encouraged thought. You'll get through life better if you learn how to think.

My parents had been involved in the labor movement; if we'd grown up in the city, we would have been red-diaper babies.

It is essential that men start being interested in and excited by how women think.

You just keep feeding hogwash to people, and pretty soon they'll eat it.

I'm not allowing my perspective to be dictated by the dominant culture.

When an audience comes to one of my concerts, I hope they'll see themselves, somewhere, in one of the songs.

A lot of artists say, I'm not political. People are afraid of this word.

I don't believe in nirvana. If nirvana was handed to us on a silver platter, this would be the first day of our struggle to keep it.

If I didn't think and feel the way I think and feel, I couldn't sing the way I sing. And I like singing the way I sing.

Language is like songs, like food, like dance-it is the expression of what we think.

Part of keeping space open is not to try to choose a form - to spend more time thinking about content, and let form take care of itself.

To come to a concert and hear a lot of songs from a female perspective should not make men say, 'Oh well, that's for women'.

To my great surprise and pleasure, I have had dinner with most of the people living with whom I would like to have dinner.

When the students were killed at Kent State, the cast voted to do a demonstration from the stage, and I abstained.

All my life I have gone out on a limb, but I have turned the limb into a bridge, and there is cool, clear water flowing under.

Whenever new ideas emerge, songs soon follow, and before long the songs are leading.

It doesn't take long to sum up the major theses of most popular music: he loves me; he left me; I need him; I needed him, but now I need his best friend. Rather limited scope.

The greatest warriors are the ones who fight for peace.

In my life, the stories I have heard from my family, my friends, my community, and from willing strangers all over the world have been the true source of my education.

Poverty without a people's government looks like hopelessness, but to see poverty in organized communities is to see relief-in-progress.

Something happens to me when I witness someone's courage. They may not know I'm watching and I might not let them know. But something happens to me that will last me for a lifetime. To fill me when I'm empty, and rock me when I'm low.

Like any art, the creation of self is both natural and seemingly impossible. It requires training as well as magic.

I am not here for me I am not here to promote my ego I am here to serve the Great Spirit To be a voice for those afraid to speak To be movement for those who are stuck I am here to reveal a mystery To learn something new about myself

In less than a century we experienced great movement. The youth movement! The labor movement! The civil rights movement! The peace movement! The solidarity movement! The women's movement! The disability movement! The disarmament movement! The gay rights movement! The environmental movement! Movement! Transformation! Is there any reason to believe we are done?

I am selfish. I reach for the world I want to live in. And I believe in leaving our best we can do to our children

My voice is my instrument. ... It is not in the throat, from where it appears to come. It is in my feet and how they touch the floor, in my legs and how they lift and sink with the rhythm of the song. It is in my hips and belly and lower back ...

Time has passed through me and become a song.

You can kill a man but not a song when it's sung the whole world 'round.

Often thoughts are given to me with the sole purpose of giving them away.

... when I am willing, all sound is available to me ...

Peace can start with just one heart.

We are a gentle angry people We are a land of many colors We are gay and straight together We are a peaceful loving people And we are singing, singing for our lives.