Quotes from Michael Stipe

I really wanted to be on Six Feet Under as a corpse. That would be hysterical.

They spoke truth and a lot of people listened.... that voice, Kurt we miss you.

Because the casual music listeners are the ones who turn on the radio and they don't really care what's playing, they just know that they kinda like it or it's easy to drive to or it's easy to sing along to or whatever.

We're absolutely American and distinctly so, I think. That's part of what people respond to outside of this country, part of the reason that we're such a huge band outside of the U.S., where we're not so popular now as we were 10 or 12 years ago.

My feeling is that labels are for canned food... I am what I am - and I know what I am.

They always want me to play myself and that's a big snooze.

But we're very much an American band and that's that. I think that's part of the appeal outside of this country and it might be part of the reason people turned away from us within this country, because familiarity breeds contempt.

So, we went from being an Athens band to being a Georgia band to being a Southern band to being an American band from the East Coast to being an American band and now we're kind of an international phenomenon.

A wise man once said, 'The skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave.'

Sometimes before we make a record I go back and listen to a few. It's equally humbling and uplifting.

When you meet a stranger, look at his shoes. Keep your money in your shoes.

There are people that very strongly identify themselves as gay and then lesbian, and then I think there are a lot of people who are kind of some percentage or some version of that.

I am not an autobiographical writer. I'll take little elements here and there from things that I've actually experienced-counting eyelashes on a sleeping beauty, for example.

Be yourself. Follow your heart. I know it sounds obvious, but it's the best advice at anyone ever. Take advice from other people, but take from it what feels right for you.

Sometimes I'm confused by what I think is really obvious. But what I think is really obvious obviously isn't obvious...

The world of WONDERLAND is authentic, vibrant, and genuine. Stacey D'Erasmo explores the delight and terror of second chances. A great read!

We toured that record for a year, which turned out to be the culmination of ten years of being constantly on the road. We were sick to death of touring.

So, we just kind of created our own thing and that's part of the beauty of Athens: is that it's so off the map and there's no way you could ever be the East Village or an L.A. scene or a San Francisco scene, that it just became its own thing.

When we first started, we were a band from Athens and that was so off the map.

Our generation was supposed to be about trying to deal with nuclear concerns and environmental disasters.

I was born in Georgia. That's where my grandparents-and all my people-are from. But my family traveled a great deal because my dad was in the army as a helicopter pilot.

The only thing to fear is fearlessness.

I've always felt that sexuality is a really slippery thing. In this day and age, it tends to get categorized and labeled, and I think labels are for food. Canned food.

I've always felt that sexuality is a really slippery thing. In this day and age, it tends to get categorized and labeled, and I think labels are for food. Canned food.