Neil Young Quotes

Did He give me the gift of love to say who I could choose? When God made me did He give me the gift of voice so some could silence me? Did he give me the gift of vision not knowing what I might see? Did he give me the gift of compassion to help my fellow man?

I don't force it. If you don't have an idea and you don't hear anything going over and over in your head, don't sit down and try to write a song. You know, go mow the lawn...My songs speak for themselves.

You were born to rock, you'll never be an opera star.

Every junkie is like a setting sun.

Hate was just a legend and war was never known. The people worked together and they lifted many stones.

My my, hey hey... Rock and roll is here to stay. Hey hey, my my... Rock and roll will never die.

I have a lot faith in the younger generation of music lovers. Youth isn't living in the past; if somebody tells them that there's something better than what they have, they're going to check it out. And if they like it, they're going to get it. I'm not worried about the youth. Young people aren't just looking back, they are also looking forward.

I like it if people enjoy what I'm doing, but if they don't, I also like it. I sometimes really like aggravating people with what I do. I think it's good for them.

I dreamed I saw the silver spaceships flying in the yellow haze of the sun. There were children crying and colors flying all around the chosen ones.

When people start asking you to do the same thing over and over again, that's when you know you're way too close to something that you don't want to be near.

This thing called Patriot Act, through which we abdicated a lot of our civil rights to defend the country against terrorism, it's a four-year story.

There's two kinds of love, one is wrong and one is right.

The '60s was one of the first times the power of music was used by a generation to bind them together.

You know how the press is: If I mention one mistake, that's the only thing that bothers me unless I mention all the other ones.

I'm not a preacher, and I'm certainly not a good example, but I have my own feelings about God. I'm kind of a nature guy. My cathedral is forests, or the prairies, or the beach.

I go in and sing the song and arrange it and mix it and that's it. It's no different than playing in clubs.

Mothers need to know what they are feeding their children. They need the freedom to make educated choices at the market.

It's the way I like to work for these kinds of songs [like "Peace Trail"]. It was the right time of the month; everything was looking good.

As I get older, I get smaller. I see other parts of the world I didn't see before. Other points of view. I see outside myself more.

All these people talking about morality should just take a walk downtown. They don't want to go downtown because instantly they see homeless people and they don't want to.

Give a hippie too much money and anything can happen.

I have no idea who's steering, and I don't really care .. I just keep going whatever the inclination is ... there are threads that are continuous and hold everything together and a major thread is country music.

Freedom is an abstract offshoot. You can't describe freedom. How can you describe it? I tried and I failed.

Back then people closed their eyes and listened to music. Today there's a lot of images that go with the music. A lot of music is crap and it's all commercial and the images are all trying to sell the record.

Standing Rock is a moment in history. We really have to grab it and go with it.

Instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle for where we're going. There's something ahead worth fighting for.

Was he a doper or was he just a loser?

Nothing is perfect in God's perfect plan.

Though my problems are meaningless, that don't make them go away.

Now I'm at a point where I decided I'm going to be in the studio for a while, at least until I finish this record I'm working on now. I should have two, three, four of the sessions that I had that were similar to the sessions for Peace Trail before I have a complete record.

Like a mountain that's growing.

I'm not into organized religion. I'm into believing in a higher source of creation, realizing we're all just part of nature.

If you want to get lost in the jungle rhythm, get down on the ground and pretend you're swimming.

I get into each thing I do, to the point where nothing else matters. I guess I'm an extremist.

I want to live, I want to give, I've been a miner for a heart of gold.

I've seen the needle and the damage done.

As you go through life, you've got to see the valleys as well as the peaks.

I do not trust self serving misinformation coming from corporations and their media trolls. I do not trust politicians who are taking millions from those corporations either. I trust people. So I make my music for people not for candidates.

Possessions and concessions are not often what they seem, they drag you down and load you down in disguise of security.

Steve Jobs was a digital pioneer, but when he went home, he listened to vinyl.

Most pleasures, like flowers when gathered die.

I totally have no other talent and I would be totally out of work if I did anything else.

Studios are passe for me. I'd rather play in a garage, in a truck, or a rehearsal hall, a club, or a basement.

This is the 21st century, we are a highly evolved race, our capabilities are so great compared to what we are doing. We have been lulled into addiction and everything is built around it and you have to break out of it and think outside of the box.

Holding back is so close to stealing.

With Crazy Horse, it's all one big, growing, smoldering sound, and I'm part of it. It's like gliding, or some sort of natural surfing.

I ran into the preacher, said God was on my side, then I ran into the hangman.

Social media and young people, art, music, all communications make this one of the most active times for activism. It will be a time of change.