Quotes from Holly Near

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

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.

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

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'.

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

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

You can kill that man but not his song, When it's sung the whole world round...

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.

Peace can start with just one heart.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Time has passed through me and become a song.

People love to hear the mistakes you've made.