I'm tired of being this solemn poet of the masses, the enigma shrouded in a mystery.

- Michael Stipe

If I'm tired of me, I'm sure the public is as well.

- Michael Stipe

I've never written a song that's hopeless. I'm not a hopeless person. I'm crazily optimistic. I crazily see the good in people. I crazily see the way…

- Michael Stipe

Super casual music listeners. That's most of the people in the world. And you have to understand, that's why Top 40 radio exists. It's not there for …

- Michael Stipe

I simply constructed a project to try to snap Kurt [Cobain] out of a frame of mind. I sent him a plane ticket and a driver, and he tacked the plane t…

- Michael Stipe

The only thing to fear is fearlessness.

- Michael Stipe

The whole point of the punk-rock thing was that "We're not special. We just have a voice."

- Michael Stipe

Love, love will be my strongest weapon

- Michael Stipe

My feeling is that labels are for canned food... I am what I am - and I know what I am.

- Michael Stipe