Joe Strummer Quotes

Punk rock isn't something you grow out of Punk rock is an attitude, and the essence of that attitude is 'give us some truth'

In fact, punk rock means exemplary manners to your fellow human beings.

Don't forget you're alive. 'Cause sometimes when you walk around the city and you're in a bad mood, you can think, hey, wait a minute, we're alive! We don't know what the next second will bring and what a fantastic thing this is. This can get easily forgotten in the routine of life, and that's something I'm trying to bring to my attention at all times. Don't forget you're alive. We're not dead, you know. This is the greatest thing.

The way you get a better world is, you don't put up with substandard anything.

Everyone has got to realise you can't hold onto the past if you want any future. Each second should lead to the next one.

When I started, they told me I only needed 3 chords and the truth... It turned out I could manage with 2 and some vague ideas.

I'd like to say that people... people can change anything they want to; and that means everything in the world. Show me any country and there'll be people in it. And it's the people that make the country. People have got to stop pretending they're not on the world... It's time to take that humanity back into the center of the ring and follow that for a time... Think on that. Without people you're nothing.

I don't have any other message than don't forget you are alive

Don't write slogans, write truths.

We`re all going to have to learn to live together and develop a greater tolerance and get rid off whatever our fathers gave us in the way of hatred between nations.

The toughest thing is facing yourself. Being honest with yourself, that's much tougher than beating someone up. That's what I call tough.

The future is unwritten.

When you blame yourself, you learn from it. If you blame someone else, you don't learn nothing, cause hey, it's not your fault, it's his fault, over there.

Authority is supposedly grounded in wisdom, but I could see from a very early age that authority was only a system of control and it didn't have any inherent wisdom. I quickly realised that you either became a power or you were crushed

I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all.

A lot of the time I'm semi-insane, but there is a slight bit of intelligence there.

Strummer's Law: No input, no output.

People can change anything they want to, and that means everything in the world.

All the power's in the hands of people rich enough to buy it.

It is fun to be alive. It's a hell of a lot better than being dead.

If I had five million pounds I'd start a radio station because something needs to be done. It would be nice to turn on the radio and hear something that didn't make you feel like smashing up the kitchen and strangling the cat.

When you're out to get the honey you don't go killing all the bees

My motto is, 'What's the hurry?' I'm trying to get it across to the modern world that we need to sit around and think a little bit more.

There is nothing more common than unsuccessful men with talent.

To me our music is like Jamaican stuff - if they can't hear it, they're not supposed to hear it. It's not for them if they can't understand it.