Long live teachers of children, because they can show children how they can save the world.
Pete SeegerRead
This banjo surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Music has the power to transform negative emotions and promote peace.
In this quote, Pete Seeger emphasizes the transformative power of music, specifically the banjo, in confronting and overcoming hatred. He suggests that through the act of making music, one can create an environment that disarms animosity and encourages reconciliation, illustrating the idea that art can foster understanding and compassion among people.
Themes
BanjoHateMusicPeaceTransformation
In practice
Example use cases
During a community event addressing social issues, one could quote this to highlight the unifying power of music.
More from Pete Seeger
All quotes →According to my definition of God, I'm not an atheist. Because I think God is everything. Whenever I open my eyes, I'm looking at God. Whenever I'm listening to something, I'm listening to God.
Pete SeegerRead
Songs are funny things. They can slip across borders. Proliferate in prisons. Penetrate hard shells. I always believed that the right song at the right moment could change history.
Pete SeegerRead
Well, normally I’m against big things. I think the world is going to be saved by millions of small things. Too many things can go wrong when they get big.” — Pete Seeger (on how he felt about attending his big 90th birthday bash last year)
Pete SeegerRead
I’ve never sung anywhere without giving the people listening to me a chance to join in - as a kid, as a lefty, as a man touring the U.S.A. and the world, as an oldster. I guess it’s kind of a religion with me. Participation. That’s what’s going to save the human race.
Pete SeegerRead
I write a song because I want to. I think the moment you start writing it to make money, you're starting to kill yourself artistically.
Pete SeegerRead
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I started imagining this whole different world. It was a society of musicians, a family I hoped I could belong to one day.
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I may be helping to bring harmony between people through my music.
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Eddie VedderRead
I've never thought about songwriting as a weapon. I've only thought about it as a way to help me get through love and loss and sadness and loneliness and growing up.
Taylor SwiftRead