Michael Franti Quotes

Michael Franti delivers blunt, hopeful reflections on war, love and humanity that will make you think and feel.

34 quotes

1. 'Television, the drug of the nation, breeding ignorance and feeding radiation...'

2. 'They say they blame it on a song when someone kills a cop, what music did they listen to when they bombed Iraq?'

3. 'You can bomb the world into pieces, but you can't bomb it into peace...' - Bomb the World.

4. 'Love is the shit that makes life bloom and you never know when you might step in it!'

5. 'Music is too big for just one station, love is too big for just one nation and God is too big for just one religion.' - East to the West.

6. 'HOW YOU FEELING?'

7. 'Those who start wars never fight them, and those who fight wars, they never like them.' - Time to Go Home.

8. 'Don't fear your best friend, cause a best friend would never try to do you wrong. And don't fear your worst friend, cause a worst friend's just a best friend that's done you wrong.' - Never Too Late.

9. 'My cup is half full, but his is empty.' - Hole in the Bucket.

10. 'Don't want a cigarette, cause that's a form of slavery.' - Hole in the Bucket.

11. 'Hope to the people who be feeling down, smile to the people who be wearing a frown, and faith to the people who be seekin' the truth. All of the time.' - Sometimes.

12. 'Everyone deserves music, even our worst enemies...' - Everyone Deserves Music

13. 'Mary, Mary, quite contrary how does your garden grow? Hydropnic, ultra-supersonic, or does it grow naturally slow?' - Ganja Babe

14. 'Cinnamon skin be bringin sin to my mind.' - Ganja Babe

15. 'The government says that killin's a sin, unless you kill a murderer with a lethal syringe!' - Rock the Nation

16. 'Music has the ability to pull emotions out of people that they didn't know existed. Through the beat and melody and through storytelling we are all part of a long ancient tradition and music can be used as much for good as it can be for evil.'

17. 'If the first casualty of war is innocence, then perhaps with each bullet fired, bomb detonated, leader overthrown, wall built, economy destroyed and family member killed, we are not creating goodwill and harmony, but rather another child who believes violence is the only means to bring about change in the world.'

18. 'My goal has not ever been to change minds; my goal is to open minds.'

19. 'It shouldn't be a republican or democratic issue whether we take care of the environment. That should be a human issue.'

20. It doesnt matter if youre black, white, gay, straight, come from different countries, different language... every single person is significant and is meaningful.

21. It doesn't matter if you're black, white, gay, straight, come from different countries, different language... every single person is significant and is meaningful.

22. I don't know if music can change the world overnight but I know that music can help someone make it through a difficult night.

23. I think my soul is intact, but my methods of reaching people are completely different.

24. During my travels in Iraq, Israel, Gaza, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, Europe and all over the United States, I have seen and heard the voices of people who want change. They want the stabilization of the economy, education and healthcare for all, renewable energy and an environmental vision with an eye on generations to come.

25. The personal revolution is far more difficult, and is the first step in any revolution.

26. I've never really been into flags of any kind, cause flags can bring people together, but they always bring people together against other people, and I don't really consider myself to be a patriot in the sense that I say, 'okay, this is my nation,' I consider myself to be a child of this whole planet.

27. My parents said sticks and stones will break your bones but names will never hurt you. But I always felt a sense of exhilaration after a fight; it was the names that really hurt me.

28. Jamaica's a country of great dichotomy. On the one hand you have a tourist industry with great beaches and resorts, but on the other you have such great poverty and the violence that goes along with that.

29. I believe that in order to tackle the big issues of the world today, like environmental issues, we need everybody's involvement. We need the resources of the corporate world. We need the cooperation of governments. We need the wisdom of indigenous people.

30. Don't fear the night time, Because the monsters know that you're divine. And don't fear the sunshine, Because everything is better in the summer time...

31. You get everything you could have ever wished for if you're willing to give that eternal bliss away to somebody else, to give it back.

32. To sit back and say, 'Oh, we're going to let the government do whatever they want, right or wrong,' is giving up.

33. I think right now is when we need to hear different voices coming out of all parts of the world. You can't just hear the politicians and the military leaders. You have to hear from the taxi drivers. You have to hear from the painters. You have to hear from the poets. You have to hear from the school teachers and the filmmakers and musicians.

34. I really believe that, as an artist, my opportunity to help to bring about awakening is one that should come from a personal process that someone has, and not from me telling somebody that this is the way it is.