30 quotes
The only thing that's been a worse flop than the organization of nonviolence has been the organization of violence.
Daybreak (1968)
You don't get to choose how you're going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now.
Daybreak (1968)
When the sun sinks in the west
Die a million people of the Bangladesh.
Bangladesh, Bangladesh
When the sun sinks in the west
Die a million people of the Bangladesh
in the Song for Bangladesh (1971)
Blessed are the persecuted
And blessed are the pure in heart
Blessed are the merciful
And blessed are the ones who mourn
Sacco e Vanzetti (1971)
I saw the people gather/I heard the music start/The song that they were singing/Is ringing in my heart
If we survive this century it will only be because you and I refuse to become Nazis.
The only thing you can do about memory is just be very humble about it because it may not have much to do with reality.
Joan Baez Interview (2009)
I went to jail for 11 days for disturbing the peace; I was trying to disturb the war.
Martin Luther King, Jr., more than any other public figure helped to solidify my ideas and inspired me to act upon them.
And a Voice to Sing With (1989)
I just sing when I feel like singing, feels sort of like exploding.
Interview with NPR (2023)
We are left in the dust right now and I don’t know if disappointed is the word. I’d say “overwhelmed” because nobody back in the 1960s or 1970s could have imagined anything this fuckin’ awful.
Interview (2019)
I am recording them for myself, to take a hard look back before facing forward in these most bizarre of times.
And a Voice to Sing With (1989)
I learned to love the Japanese bow, and I use it to this day in concert to thank people for having come to hear me.
And a Voice to Sing With (1989)
Ghosts of my history will follow me there/And the winds of the old days will blow through my hair
I tend more towards Buddhist and Native American thought. For me, the spirits are quite real.
Interview (2023)
True he was a vocal miracle
But that's only secondary
It's the soul of the monarch butterfly
That I find a little bit scary
Gulf Winds (1976)
With the precision of a hummingbird's heart
Was the lord of the monarch butterflies
One-time ruler of the world of art
Gulf Winds (1976)
My art, work, family and friends, my son Gabe, and a curious relationship with God remain the sustaining forces in my life.
And a Voice to Sing With (1989)
We both know what memories can bring
They bring diamonds and rust
Diamonds & Rust (1975)