Phil Ochs Quotes

Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make the attempt. That's morality, that's religion, that's art, that's life.

Phil Ochs

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• Art

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Quotes to Explore

• The death tax robs parents of the opportunity to pass something along to their children, and it is responsible for destroying a lot of family-owned businesses.

  

  Mac Thornberry
  • Children
  • Family
  • Death

• You can be revered for all sorts of qualities, but to be truly charismatic is rare. Elizabeth Taylor was, for me, one of those rarities.

  

  Francesca Annis
  • Qualities
  • Charismatic
  • Revered

• I love rap because it talks about pain that comes authentically from the ghetto. It moves me.

  

  Zubin Mehta
  • Pain
  • Moves
  • Talks

• Excellence is not a skill, it's an attitude.

  

  Ralph Marston
  • Attitude
  • Excellence
  • Skill

• A man will turn over half a library to make one book.

  

  Samuel Johnson
  • Book
  • Man
  • Library

• Anger is the enemy of non-violence and pride is a monster that swallows it up.

  

  Mahatma Gandhi
  • Up
  • Violence
  • Enemy

• The advice I would give to someone is to not take anyone's advice.

  

  Eddie Murphy
  • Advice
  • Give
  • Someone

• I don't want to build any image for myself. I don't want people to say, 'He does only a certain type of role.' I don't want only to be the hero of the story. An actor's weakness is the different roles that he can't do. But I am keen to grab only those roles as I am here to challenge myself.

  

  Nawazuddin Siddiqui
  • People
  • Different
  • Myself

• The man who is intent on making the most of his opportunities is too busy to bother about luck.

  

  B. C. Forbes
  • Man
  • Chance
  • Luck

• I always put my fantasies in the realm of goals.

  

  O. J. Simpson
  • Always
  • Goals
  • Put

• Near the end of my career, I saw things that didn't make too much sense to me when I was a kid.

  

  Nadia Comaneci
  • Career
  • End
  • Sense

• I will say I am the sum of my books.

  

  V. S. Naipaul
  • Books
  • Sum

• I originally got into this because of a five-year-old's begrudgery of his teacher. Mrs. Lawlor cast me as a tree, and I was disgusted. I was sure I had more to offer than that. It was like, 'OK, if you want me to be set dressing, fine, I'll take it on the chin but I'll show you - I'm going to be a big actor some day.'

  

  Jack Reynor
  • Day
  • Teacher
  • Tree

• Banks are an almost irresistible attraction for that element of our society which seeks unearned money.

  

  J. Edgar Hoover
  • Money
  • Society
  • Almost

• Working in a bar was a horrific idea for me.

  

  Patrick deWitt
  • Me
  • Idea
  • Working

• The truth is I had lots of rehab and now I have a clean bill of health.

  

  Samantha Morton
  • Truth
  • Health
  • Truth Is

• When I hear theists and atheists pontificating on how they know God does or does not exist, I can only smile at the irrationality and, yes, vanity of the notion.

  

  Vincent Bugliosi
  • God
  • Smile
  • Vanity

• If I go to a baseball game, I hear 'Shoeless Joe,' but otherwise, I hear 'toe pick' five times a day. No matter how many more movies I make, that'll be on my gravestone.

  

  D. B. Sweeney
  • Game
  • Day
  • Baseball

• I would hope the NBA Players Association would say that people like LeBron could come out early because he's so gifted, but if you stay, you stay three years. Your skill level will be greater, and the chances of you going to the NBA are much greater.

  

  Larry Brown
  • People
  • Hope
  • Skill

• For me, as a writer, I desperately want to be read. I'm very conscious of readers as I'm writing. I think, 'If you write for yourself, then why don't you just keep it under the bed,' so I definitely write for other people.

  

  Matt Haig
  • People
  • Writing
  • Why

• Young men, I beseech you earnestly, beware of pride. Two things are said to be very rare sights in the world- one is a young man that is humble, and the other is an old man that is content. I fear that this is only too true.

  

  J. C. Ryle
  • World
  • Men
  • True

• Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make the attempt. That's morality, that's religion, that's art, that's life.

  

  Phil Ochs
  • Life
  • World
  • Art