1. “Forget about the money, you aren’t going to get paid, so you can do whatever you want, you’re free! You just have to figure out a way to keep eating, and then the rest of your time you can create things, whatever you want. The only way you’re going to get paid is by making the dumb shit that they can sell” – John Sinclair 2018
2. “Some of the best creative minds on earth are employed to immerse us in a never ending cascade of reassuring images…..designed to divert our minds and manufacture our consent.” The Corporation (2003) Canadian documentary film written by Joel Bakan, and directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott.
3. “In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: Not necessarily to Win, but mainly to keep from Losing Completely.”Hunter S Thompson – Gonzo Papers, Vol. 1: The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time (1979)
4. “And Bob…remember… you… are my number one.” The Joker – Batman (1989)
5. “. . . there are periods of history when the visions of madmen and dope fiends are a better guide to reality than the common-sense interpretation of data available to the so-called normal mind. This is one such period, if you haven’t noticed already.” R.A.Wilson
6. “I am not what is called a civilized man, Professor. I have done with society for reasons that seem good to me. Therefore, I do not obey its laws.” – 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Jules Verne
7. “There are no innocent bystanders … what are they doing there in the first place?” William S. Burroughs
8. “I’ll tell you one thing: Don’t ever give anybody your best advice, because they’re not going to follow it.” Jack Nicholson
9. Culture Industry is a term coined by Theodor Adorno (1903–69) and Max Horkheimer (1895–1973), who argued in “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception,” that popular culture is akin to a factory producing standardized cultural goods – through film, radio and magazines – to manipulate the masses into passivity; the easy pleasures available through consumption of popular culture make people docile and content, no matter how difficult their economic circumstances. Culture industries may cultivate false needs; that is, needs created and satisfied by capitalism. True needs, in contrast, are freedom, creativity, or genuine happiness….Culture not only mirrors society, but also takes an important role in shaping society through the processes of standardization and commodification, creating objects rather than subjects. By standardizing the consumer’s needs, the Culture Industry is manipulating the consumer to desire what it produces. The outcome is that mass production feeds a mass market that minimizes the identity and tastes of the individual consumers who are as interchangeable as the products they consume.
10. “Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear!” – Moby Dick, Herman Melville.
11. “All you care about is money. This town deserves a better class of criminal….It’s not about money…..” The Joker – The Dark Knight (2008)
12. “Music critics get their records for free so their opinions usually don’t matter.” – Marilyn Manson
13. “The sea is everything. Its breath is healthy and pure. It is a spacious wilderness where you can never be alone. It is a living infinity. The sea is nature’s vast reserve. Perfect peace abides there. The sea does not belong to despots. On its surface immoral rights can still be claimed, men can fight each other, devour each other, and carry out all the earth’s atrocities. But thirty feet below the surface their power ceases, their influence fades, their authority disappears. Independence is possible only here. Here I recognize no master! Here I am Free!” – Captain Nemo Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas: Jules Verne
14. “Rock journalism is people who can’t write, interviewing people who can’t talk, in order to provide articles for people who can’t read.” Ben Watson interviews Frank Zappa” October 1993
15. “…..We all learn to fear authority. They say the only way to deal with it is to gain a piece of the power structure. So be a cop, a lawyer, a soldier, a businessman. Take their power and use it against your brother. Even well intentioned seekers of power for justice are subverted and compromised. We need to be rid of these demagogues, the pompous hair shirted sooth sayers who are in the position to initiate positive change but instead repress it to perpetuate their rule. There’s no god in heaven so get off your knees……Anarchy, Individualism, Social Consciousness, Eqaulity, Liberty.” – M.D.C. 1981
16. “Participate in the broad movement of people against the war. Resist all forms of censorship and disinformation about this war and attacks on civil liberties. Speak out against the war using every possible media. Change hearts and minds through art which opposes this war. Help to create the international movement against this war and oppose national chauvinism, racism and all forms of bigotry.” – Artists Against the War 2003
17. “Religion is a magic device for turning unanswerable questions into unquestionable answers.” – Art Gecko, Primethyme 3, 128650 DPP
18. “How in the hell could a man enjoy being awakened at 6:30am by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force-feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so?” – Charles Bukowski, Factotum.
19. “There’s a fundamental truth that is far more important than getting a number 1 record or not. That truth is: If you want to do something… REALLY want to do something… Don’t wait to be asked! Don’t seek permission! Don’t put off until you’ve passed the right exams, or paid or saved up enough money! But be prepared to risk complete failure. Don’t give a shit about whatever your mates, or girlfriend or your boyfriend says. Whatever it is, start NOW, TODAY. Tomorrow is always too late.” Bill Drummond – formerly of the KLF
20. “It’s not what you put online that matters, it’s what you don’t.” – anonymous
21. Music has no flag, no government, no police. Nobody owns it, nobody controls it. Music crosses all borders of geography, language, culture and belief. Music brings people together when all else fails. Music can shine a light in the darkest of corners.
22. “What people want is a strong statement of belief. When they realise a sound system is better than a belief system all war will cease. Demand World Peace. Turn the Music up”
23. “Rock n Roll does not make the times, songs reflect the times. And if you don’t like the way things are…look to your own home, and the way you have raised your own kids, look to the school, the budget for which you have cut back….if the schools are not good and your home is not good you’re not going to solve these matters by sticking ratings on rock n roll albums or allowing the government to get involved in the raising of your children. They have failed at all this stuff and all the other social programs, get them out of the way.” Frank Zappa November 1985 on Channel U68
24. “Youth is easily deceived because it is quick to hope.” – Aristotle
25. “What a wonderful power the machine gives you, but, is it going to dominate you? This statement of what the “need” and “want” is must come from you, not from the machine, and not from the government that’s teaching you, not even from the clergy. It has to come from one’s own inside, and the minute you let that drop and take what the dictation of the time is, instead of the dictation of your own eternity, you have capitulated to the devil, and you’re in hell.” – Joseph Campbell (1904-1987)
26. “You got to live it, not just say it or play it, that’s what this is all about” – JS, Bridgework IV: 1965
27. “The only way to support a revolution is to make your own” – Abbie Hoffman, Woodstock Nation
28. “Under the present system of mass education by classes too much stress is laid on teaching and too little on active learning. The child is not encouraged to discover things on his own account. He learns to rely on outside help, not on his own powers, thus losing intellectual independence and all capacity to judge for himself. The over-taught child is the father of the newspaper-reading, advertisement-believing, propaganda-swallowing, demagogue-led man – the man who makes modern democracy the farce it is.” – Aldous Huxley, Proper Studies (1927)
29. “The Revolution is totally committed to bringing people out of their shells and into each others arms. The music is the source and effect of our spirit flesh and we demand a free music and a free high energy source that will drive us wild into the streets of America yelling and screaming and tearing down everything that would keep people slaves” – John Sinclair
30. “Of course I’m crazy, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.” Robert Anton Wilson
31. “Rock N Roll music is a weapon of cultural revolution. There are not enough musicians around today who are hip to this fact” – John Sinclair (December 1968)
32. “This is the problem with doing weird things. If you behave like a reasonable person, then the world will be reasonable back. If you step outside of the norm, however, and act in freaky ways, then the world will match you step for step. ” – John Higgs, The Brandy of the Damned (2012)
33. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” a proverb or aphorism derived from the words of John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674)
34. “It is not the observers who are at fault, it is the attitude of mind of the people who think they know better.” – TC Lethbridge
35. “Don’t believe anything. Nothing which is the product of a human mind is a fitting subject for your belief…..But, you can suppose anything…..and you should because because supposing is mind expanding. Suppose flying saucers, fairies, God…..if you must…..but don’t believe it” – Ken Campbell
36. “If it’s not impossible…..It’s not worth doing” – Ken Campbell
37. “I just want to get high and fuck!” – John Sinclair 2013, a Detroit poet and former manager of the band MC5
38. “Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality” – The Cheshire Cat, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
39. “There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” Leonardo da Vinci
40. “The first step — especially for young people with energy and drive and talent, but not money — the first step to controlling your world is to control your culture. To model and demonstrate the kind of world you demand to live in. To write the books. Make the music. Shoot the films. Paint the art.” Chuck Palahniuk
41. “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” Rudyard Kipling
42. Language = Mind-Altering Substance
43. “…It’s frightening to consider that there are all sorts of entities—corporate advertising departments, certain religious organizations, politicians, major news media outlets, etc.—who are constantly disseminating messages that are intended to push our feelings or perspective in directions that are not in our best interests. They’re trying to trigger anxiety so we’ll buy their product, or convince us to subscribe to their ideology, or make us blindly patriotic so we won’t question our government’s actions, or foment strong emotions so we’ll keep watching their “breaking news” and make them more money.”
44. “A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him.” Ezra Pound
45. “I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.” Charles Bukowski
46. “Speak truth to power” Alexei Sayle
47. “Artists, they say, sell out cheapest and most quickly.” – Charles Bukowski
48. “. . . an optimistic mind-set finds dozens of possible solutions for every problem that the pessimist regards as incurable.” – Robert Anton Wilson, Cosmic Trigger I: Final Secret of the Illuminati
49. “It’s dangerous to understand new things too quickly” – Josiah Warren, True Civilization
50. “Cultures act to preserve the illusions of the population. They’re not interested in you if you are an Einstein or a Jackson Pollock….unless they can fit you in to the pre-established systems of commerce and canons of aesthetic order …..and that’s called being civilised.” – Terence Mckenna
51. “Reality is not enough; we need nonsense too. Drifting into a world of fantasy is not an escape from reality but a significant education about the nature of life.” Edmund Miller, Lewis Carroll Observed
52. “As for the Eagles, I don’t think It was their music so much that I hated, but the fact that they represented the corporatization of rock and roll, and the fact that “the man” had found a way to coopt the revolution, which was begun by the likes of the MC5, taking it from the streets of America, and moving it into the boardroom. They bought all of the guitars” John Sinclair
53. “The survival value of music for humans isn’t entirely obvious — but one thought is that it offers social cohesion. When you think of African tribes gathering with music, you see people waving and shaking to the music, singing together in unison. It’s a profound cohesive force. Perhaps the tribe that sings together survives together.”
54. A sacrifice is meant to be a loss, so that one may be sure that the egoistic claim no longer exists. Therefore the gift should be given as if it were being destroyed. But since the gift represents myself, I have in that case destroyed myself, given myself away without expectation of return. Yet, looked at in another way, this intentional loss is also a gain, for if you can give yourself it proves that you possess yourself. Nobody can give what he has not got.” – CG Jung – Transformation Symbolism in the Mass
55. “The biggest issue is the artists not pushing the gigs themselves. With all of our gigs it is about the artists leading, people don’t come to the venue they come to see the artists.” – A Music Venue
56. “Every day I try to figure out how I can make a contribution to the world and ask: Can I leave the place a little nicer than I found it?” Wayne Kramer
57. “Happy the youth who believes that his duty is to remake the world and bring it more in accord with virtue and justice, more in accord with his own heart. Woe to whoever commences his life without lunacy.” – Nikos Kazantzakis, Report to Greco
58. “The real problem was I couldn’t get along with the world. Everything upset me.” – Wayne Kramer
59. “Money is what God used to be. Good and Evil have no meaning any longer except failure and success. Hence the profoundly significant phrase, to make good” – George Orwell
60. “Pop culture in general is the main thing they use to keep young people from developing any ideas.” – John Sinclair 2009, a Detroit poet and former manager of the band MC5.
61. “Out of the shadows of legend I begin a little to understand the marvel of the trees, I think. I have lived to see strange days. Long we have tended our beasts and our fields, built our houses, wrought our tools, or ridden away to help in the wars. And that we called the life of Men, the way of the world. We cared little for what lay beyond the borders of our land. Songs we have that tell of these things, but we are forgetting them, teaching them only to children, as a careless custom.” – The Lord Of The Rings. Aragorn, the king-in-waiting, encounters the Ents. Once upon a time stories were told to all of us, stories of gods and myths, of eternal and universal things – that’s how the early Greek festivals worked. People left their farms and villages, travelled to the nearest theatre and came for a whole day – sometimes two or three – to listen to, and see, stories. Stories to make sense of the world, to bring us together. Big stories, of people and gods, of punishment and transformation. Theatre is – potentially – transformative; but we seem to have forgotten about that potential. – Oliver Senton
62. “You gotta remember, establishment, it’s just a name for evil. The monster doesn’t care whether it kills all the students or whether there’s a revolution. It’s not thinking logically, it’s out of control.”—John Lennon (1969)
63. “The planet does not need more “successful people.” The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds.” – Dalai Lama
64. “It was time for the highway. I’d taken the Devil’s coin and now I had to burn.” – Mark Manning, Crucify Me Again
65. “I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.”
66. “The role which the artist plays in society is to revive the primitive, anarchic instincts which have been sacrificed for the illusion of living in comfort… It is not the most comfortable life in the world but I know that it is life, and I am not going to trade it for an anonymous life in the brotherhood of man—which is either sure death, or quasi-death, or at the very best cruel deception.” – Henry Miller
67. “In a dying culture, narcissism embodies the highest attainment of spiritual enlightenment.” – Christopher Lasch
68. “Each of us will do so much less damage with our errors, if we enact our plans for a just and environmentally friendly world as individuals….. seeing what catches on, rather than as great reset policy enactors doing stuff on a global or cosmic level.” – Douglas Rushkoff
69. “You should view the world as a conspiracy run by a very closely-knit group of nearly omnipotent people, and you should think of those people as yourself and your friends.” – Robert Anton Wilson
70. Music has long been used as a tool to inspire and motivate people to fight for causes they believe in. It has been used as a way to bring people together to protest oppression, fight for civil rights, and to rally against injustice. Music can create a powerful sense of unity, giving people the courage and strength to stand up for what they believe in. It can also be used to spread messages of hope and to help heal wounds from the past. Music can be a powerful tool for social and political change.
71. “When a person can’t find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure.” – Viktor E. Frankl
72. “……if you want to be a musician you just have to realize that nobody is gonna care.” – Frank Zappa
73. “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” – Herman Melville
74. “Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place then come down and shoot the survivors.” – Ernest Hemingway
