Skip to content

I am a rebel by birth. … I contest anything that is unjust, that causes suffering in humanity. My feelings about that are so strong, I don't think I could live with myself if I weren't honest.

— Yip Harburg

Another quote →

Topics

Honesty

More quotes by Yip Harburg

When I'm not near the girl I love,
I love the girl I'm near.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow,
Why then, oh why can't I?

I am one of the last of a small tribe of troubadours, who still believe that life is a beautiful and exciting journey with a purpose and grace which are well worth singing about.

Look, look, look to the rainbow
Follow it over the hill and stream
Look, look, look to the rainbow
Follow the fellow who follows a dream.

My heart's prepared for aching
The moment you take wing.
But not, my friend, for breaking
While there's another spring.

Rhymes for the Irreverent (1965)

All Yip Harburg quotes →

You may also like

You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making that is based upon lies or ignorance can't lead to a good conclusion.

Julian Assange

False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.

Socrates

It is better to be poor and walk in integrity than to be stupid and speak lies.

Solomon

Who dares think one thing, and another tell,
My heart detests him as the gates of hell.

Homer Iliad (-750)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Yip Harburg (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.