When I wrote the song, The Way It Is, I wanted to move people to take a stand on civil rights in this country.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of advocacy and taking a stand for civil rights.
In this quote, Bruce Hornsby expresses his intention behind writing 'The Way It Is' β to inspire listeners to engage with and advocate for civil rights issues. He highlights the power of music as a tool for social change and the responsibility of artists to influence society positively.
In practice
In a speech on civil rights progress, one might quote this to emphasize the role of artists in social movements.
Again and again in history some people wake up. They have no ground in the crowd and move to broader deeper laws. They carry strange customs with them and demand room for bold and audacious action. The future speaks ruthlessly through them. They change the world.
If we're going to fight a disease, let's fight one of the most terrible diseases of all, indifference.
Things don't change, but by and by our wishes change.
The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is, in fact, a return to the idealized past.
Thankfully dreams can change. If we'd all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses. So whatever your dream is right now, if you don't achieve it, you haven't failed and you're not some loser-but just as importantly-if you do get your dream, you're not a winner.
Change will come slowly, across generations, because old beliefs die hard even when demonstrably false.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.