All these people that I used to know, they're an illusion to me now. Some are mathematicians, some are carpenters' wives.

I play these [folk acoustic] concerts and I ask myself, 'Would you come see me tonight?' - and I'd have to answer truthfully, 'No, I wouldn't come. I'd rather be doin' something else, really I would. That something else is rock... The words are pictures, and the rock's gonna help me flesh out the colors of the pictures. (1965)

I'm a liberal to a degree, I want everybody to be free. But if you think that I'll let Barry Goldwater move in next door.

May you build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung. May you stay forever young.

Even if you don't have all the things you want, be grateful for the things you don't have that you don't want (Bob Dylan's dad)

You just don't wake up one day and decide that you need to write songs.

You travel the world, you go see different things. I like to see Shakespeare plays, so I'll go - I mean, even if it's in a different language. I don't care, I just like Shakespeare, you know. I've seen Othello and Hamlet and Merchant of Venice over the years, and some versions are better than others. Way better. It's like hearing a bad version of a song. But then somewhere else, somebody has a great version.