Quite often people will get an animal which is probably not a good idea for them to have. They get it out of enthusiasm, there is a genuine interest, but sometimes they're not exactly prepared for what they're getting themselves into.
Henry RollinsYou might as well enjoy the day - you never know when and how painfully it could all end.
Henry RollinsI am not a trained actor and am not near the top of anyone's want list. I go after what I am offered, if I am so inclined. Now and then, I get offers for things that are not to my liking, in that I just don't care about the story. All this super tough guy stuff isn't anything that interests me all that much. I can't think of anything I turned down that I regret.
Henry RollinsIt's always been impressive to me when someone can really do what they want onstage. The audience has confidence in the performer and the performer has confidence in the crowd.
Henry RollinsI'm not like paparazzi. I never force myself on anyone. I always ask, and some places offer money. And so I try and get these photos to give you, the viewer, a real look at what I was seeing.
Henry RollinsThere're some places that are more difficult or dangerous to navigate and I wouldn't look forward to going back. Like I'd much rather go back to Afghanistan - which fascinates me - quicker than I'd go back to spend a week walking around Nairobi, Kenya, which is a great and easy way to get yourself killed.
Henry RollinsThe first Van Halen album makes Johnny Rotten out to be what he really was and still is: a hairdresser.
Henry RollinsIf people are being upstanding citizens of the Republic, then you have to widen the net to incarcerate them. This explains why America's prisons are full of nonviolent offenders - a perfect example of American exceptionalism.
Henry RollinsI mean I appreciate fan mail and that the people like what I am doing but I can't answer it. If I would answer 25 letters a day I would be just a guy answering mail and not an artist anymore.
Henry RollinsThey say true love only comes around once and you have to hold out and be strong until then. I have been waiting. I have been searching. I am a man under the moon, walking the streets of earth until dawn. There's got to be someone for me. It's not too much to ask. Just someone to be with. Someone to love. Someone to give everything to. Someone.
Henry RollinsLet's pretend my career in music is a bell. Whether you like my music or not is up to you. But you've got to admit I rang that bell pretty hard and pretty often.
Henry RollinsSo, one way or another, I found myself in a few movies. I take it seriously when I'm on the set, but I don't take myself seriously as an actor.
Henry RollinsI travel because I want to know. Books and documentaries will only get you so far. If you want to know, you will have to go.
Henry RollinsI'm not trying to say I'm a big tough guy... I'm a typical American-waist deep in this violent culture.
Henry RollinsI have to keep moving I don't want to think I'm going to work all day today I don't want to stop Don't want to let my brain catch up my thoughts How will I be able to tell them that I'm a shadow A grey patch of cold rotting life
Henry RollinsWhen you're going into an employment environment that looks pretty scary, it is easy to lose your moral compass, your decency, your sense of civility and your sense of community.
Henry RollinsI was in Pakistan in Islamabad when Bhutto was assassinated, and the next day, you know, there's just plumes of smoke everywhere. I mean, Islamabad is on fire.
Henry RollinsThe history of apartheid-era South Africa is incredibly sad and at times infuriatingly incomprehensible.
Henry RollinsIt wasn't until my late twenties that I learned that by working out I had given myself a great gift. I learned that nothing good comes without work and a certain amount of pain. When I finish a set that leaves me shaking, I know more about myself. When something gets bad, I know it can't be as bad as that workout.
Henry RollinsThe prison-industrial complex and the military-industrial complex are here with us and are multi-billion dollar enterprises. We can make more money off the kid in Compton if he's a criminal instead of a scholar. It's business.
Henry RollinsI was never told to "Get up, get out there, get a job." It was never a thing either parent ever said I had to do. It was what I wanted to do. I think I was very interested in being away from them as much as possible. Employment was great for that.
Henry RollinsIn the late summer of 1986, the band I had been in for five years stopped playing. Suddenly, I was on my own. This new state of bandlessness was, at first, traumatic. When your group breaks up, a lot of broken parts hit the ground.
Henry RollinsHere in this moment we are beautiful, nocturnal creatures and our thoughts and words are jewels guarded by the moon.
Henry RollinsBetween the Dinosaur Jr. albums and his recent solo albums, 'Several Shades of Why' and 'Heavy Blanket,' J Mascis is emerging as one of the last men from all that '80s indie madness, still writing songs that you want to listen to over and over.
Henry RollinsIf you think about it, every single species is endangered. Homo sapiens at the front of the line, mosquitoes and lawyers at the back.
Henry RollinsMore than 30 years ago, in Washington, D.C., I secured a copy of a single by a Los Angeles band called The Bags. The two-song 7-inch, released on Dangerhouse, had a girl on the cover who looked right at you with huge eyes. The songs, 'Survive' and 'Babylonian Gorgon,' were great and made many of my mix tapes.
Henry RollinsThe lowest stress environment is the radio show. I am not on camera and I can let the music do the talking. The rest is more highly pressurized or in the case of writing, time intensive task. I say yes to all of it and like all of it but the radio show, by nature of what it is, is the least hassle.
Henry RollinsI'll never forget how the depression and loneliness felt good and bad at the same time. Still does.
Henry RollinsPeople will remember that the Tea Party was co-opted and funded by billion-dollar corporations, and that it was supported by Fox News and other outlets with the same vigor with which they attempt to denigrate the Occupy protesters.
Henry RollinsThere's nothing new about the government protecting corporations and calling it the freeing of the world or bringing democracy to bereft nations.
Henry RollinsIn fact, every place I've been to in Africa has a nice part, but you see the downside. Calcutta , parts of Central and South America , I've seen a lot of dead bodies and a lot of sad poverty and just obliteration.
Henry RollinsI want a soul mate who can sit me down, shut me up, tell me ten things I don’t already know, and make me laugh. I don’t care what you look like, just turn me on. And if you can do that, I will follow you on bloody stumps through the snow. I will nibble your mukluks with my own teeth. I will do your windows. I will care about your feelings. Just have something in there.
Henry RollinsAs a young person growing up in Washington, D.C., summers were hot, humid and relentless. My friends and I grew more restless and adventurous with every passing year.
Henry RollinsImagine a 15-year-old kid saying, 'I have two moms - it's cool.' I don't fear that at all.
Henry RollinsContemporary bands often will do tour-only releases pressed and sold only in Australia. Crikey!
Henry RollinsSitting in a room, alone, listening to a CD is to be lonely. Sitting in a room alone with an LP crackling away, or sitting next to the turntable listening to a song at a time via 7-inch single is enjoying the sublime state of solitude.
Henry RollinsI'm actually on the Twitter like all those crazy young kids are, and if I'm going to do an in-store appearance or I post something on my website, I tweet these followers, a word I don't like so much, and over 50,000 people go, like, 'Okay, I got it.'
Henry Rollins