Joan Baez quotes

Joan Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, and activist renowned for her distinctive voice and influential music. Her performances have inspired generations and played a significant role in the civil rights and anti-war movements. She continues to be celebrated for her tireless commitment to social justice and humanitarian causes. Here are 53 of her quotes:

Hypothetical questions get hypothetical answers.

Joan Baez

The only thing that's been a worse flop than the organization of nonviolence has been the organization of violence.

Joan Baez

You don't get to choose how you're going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now.

Joan Baez

We both know what memories can bring / They bring diamonds and rust.

Joan Baez

I went to jail for 11 days for disturbing the peace; I was trying to disturb the war.

Joan Baez

All of us alive are survivors, but how many of us transcend survival?

Joan Baez

Well you burst on the scene Already a legend The unwashed phenomenon The original vagabond You strayed into my arms And there you stayed Temporarily lost at sea The Madonna was yours for free Yes the girl on the half-shell Would keep you unharmed.

Joan Baez

Blessed are the persecuted And blessed are the pure in heart Blessed are the merciful And blessed are the ones who mourn.

Joan Baez

True he was a vocal miracle But that's only secondary It's the soul of the monarch butterfly That I find a little bit scary.

Joan Baez

Here's to you, Nicola and Bart Rest forever here in our hearts The last and final moment is yours That agony is your triumph.

Joan Baez

We're the children of the 80's, haven't we grown We're tender as a lotus and we're tougher than stone And the age of our innocence is somewhere in the garden.

Joan Baez

Some of us may offer a surprise Recently have you looked in our eyes Maybe we're your conscience in disguise.

Joan Baez

Rebellion, revolution don't need dollars They need this instead Imagination, suffering, light and love And care for every human being You never steal, you never kill You are a part of hope and life The revolution goes from man to man And heart to heart And I sense when I look at the stars That we are children of life Death is small.

Joan Baez

Action is the antidote to despair.

Joan Baez

If it's natural to kill, how come men have to go into training to learn how?

Joan Baez

Instead of getting hard ourselves and trying to compete, women should try and give their best qualities to men - bring them softness, teach them how to cry.

Joan Baez

You may not know it, but at the far end of despair, there is a white clearing where one is almost happy.

Joan Baez

As we know, forgiveness of oneself is the hardest of all the forgivenesses.

Joan Baez

Perhaps he's just a vehicle To bear us to the hills of Truth That's Truth spelled with a great big T And peddled in the mystic's booth There are oh so many miracles That the western sky exposes Why go looking for lilacs When you're lying in a bed of roses?

Joan Baez

If we survive this century it will only be because you and I refuse to become Nazis.

Joan Baez

Bangladesh, Bangladesh When the sun sinks in the west Die a million people of the Bangladesh.

Joan Baez

Against us is the law With its immensity of strength and power Against us is the law! Police know how to make a man A guilty or an innocent Against us is the power of police! The shameless lies that men have told Will ever more be paid in gold Against us is the power of the gold! Against us is racial hatred And the simple fact that we are poor My father dear, I am a prisoner Don't be ashamed to tell my crime The crime of love and brotherhood And only silence is shame.

Joan Baez