Holly Near

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

“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.”

“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.”

“People love to hear the mistakes you've made.”

“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.”

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

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

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

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

“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.”

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

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

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

“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 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.”

“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.”

“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'.”

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