Joni Mitchell Quotes

Keep a good heart. That's the most important thing in life. It's not how much money you make or what you can acquire. The art of it is to keep a good heart.

When the world becomes a massive mess with nobody at the helm, it's time for artists to make their mark.

Something's lost, but something's gained, in living everyday.

We are stardust, we are golden and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden.

Rationally I have no hope, irrationally I believe in miracles.

My heart is broken in the face of the stupidity of my species.

I heard someone from the music business saying they are no longer looking for talent, they want people with a certain look and a willingness to cooperate. I thought, that's interesting, because I believe a total unwillingness to cooperate is what is necessary to be an artist — not for perverse reasons, but to protect your vision. The considerations of a corporation, especially now, have nothing to do with art or music. That's why I spend my time now painting.

You've got to keep the child alive; you can't create without it.

Depression can be the sand that makes the pearl. Most of my best work came out of it.

you dont know what you got till its gone

Freedom to me is a luxury of being able to follow the path of the heart, to keep the magic in your life. Freedom is necessary for me in order to create, and if I cannot create I don’t feel alive.

Chase away the demons, and they will take the angels with them.

There are things to confess that enrich the world, and things that need not be said.

Ask anyone in America where the craziest people live and they'll tell you California. Ask anyone in California where the craziest people live and they'll say Los Angeles. Ask anyone in Los Angeles where the craziest people live and they'll tell you Hollywood. Ask anyone in Hollywood where the craziest people live and they'll say Laurel Canyon. And ask anyone in Laurel Canyon where the craziest people live and they'll say Lookout Mountain. So I bought a house on Lookout Mountain.

I still believe in the power of the word, that words inspire.

I have an aversion to being mislabeled. Here's a label I'd accept: I'm an 'individual.' I'm someone who can't follow, and doesn't want to lead.

I paint my joy and I sing my sorrow.

The most important thing is to write in your own blood. I bare intimate feelings because people should know how other people feel.

people will tell you were they have gone, they'll tell you where to go, but until you get there for yourself you never really know.

And the seasons they go 'round and 'round And the painted ponies go up and down We're captive on the carousel of time We can't return we can only look behind From where we came And go round and round and round In the circle game.

Rachmaninoff made a musician out of me. His 'Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini' was the piece that sent me into raptures. It spoke to me. To me, it was a tender entreaty for the misunderstood.

So many things I would have done, but clouds got in my way.

Laughing and crying, you know it's the same release.

I see music as fluid architecture.

All my battles were with male egos. I’m just looking for equality, not to dominate. But I want to be able to control my vision.