45 Quotes & Sayings By David Bowie

David Jones (David Robert Jones), who released his first album at the age of 17, was an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor. He was known for his innovative work in music videos and his stage antics during performances. Bowie also made acting appearances in other film genres including the crime drama Ten Little Indians (1986).

... And these childrenthat you spit onas they try to...
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... And these childrenthat you spit onas they try to change their worldsare immune to your consultations. They're quite awareof what they're going through... David Bowie
Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming
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Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming David Bowie
What is the quality you most like in a man?...
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What is the quality you most like in a man? The ability to return books. David Bowie
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People are so fucking dumb. Nobody reads anymore, nobody goes out and looks and explores the society and culture they were brought up in. People have attention spans of five seconds and as much depth as a glass of water. David Bowie
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Written in pain, written in awe By a puzzled man who questioned What we were here for David Bowie
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I think I saw you in an ice-cream parlourdrinking milk shakes cold and long Smiling and waving and looking so finedon't think you knew you were in this song David Bowie
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She will be your living hell. David Bowie
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Everywhere I looked, demons of the future [were] on the battlegrounds of one’s emotional plane. David Bowie
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Once you lose that sense of wonder at being alive, you're pretty much on the way out... David Bowie
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I can ask for cigarettes in every language David Bowie
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I always had a repulsive need to be something more than human. I felt very puny as a human. I thought, 'Fuck that. I want to be a superhuman. David Bowie
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David Thomas: What do you think is the worst crime that could possibly be committed? What is the crime that offends you most? David Bowie: Seeing a man humble himself in his capacity as a worker to somebody else, and having to have that accepted as a given situation. David Bowie
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Cause I'd rather stay here With all the madmen Than perish with the sadmen roaming free And I'd rather play here With all the madmen For I'm quite content they're all as sane As me David Bowie
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Sometimes I don't feel as if I'm a person at all. I'm just a collection of other people's ideas. David Bowie
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If I could control tomorrow's haze, The darkened shore wouldn't bother me, If I can't control the web we weave, My life will be lost in the fallen leaves... David Bowie
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And you, You can be mean And I, I'll drink all the time' Cause we're lovers, And that is a fact Yes we're lovers, And that is that David Bowie
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I do value the respect I get from my contemporaries, but to have Oasis cover my song, to have Puff Daddy cover a song, to have Goldie come along to my gigs - that's where my ego is at. To have my fellow musicians like what I do, that's very cool. David Bowie
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What I like to do is try to make a difference with the work I do. David Bowie
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All my big mistakes are when I try to second-guess or please an audience. My work is always stronger when I get very selfish about it. David Bowie
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I'm an instant star. Just add water and stir. David Bowie
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Fame can take interesting men and thrust mediocrity upon them. David Bowie
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On the other hand, what I like my music to do to me is awaken the ghosts inside of me. Not the demons, you understand, but the ghosts. David Bowie
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I had to resign myself, many years ago, that I'm not too articulate when it comes to explaining how I feel about things. But my music does it for me, it really does. David Bowie
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I'm well past the age where I'm acceptable. You get to a certain age and you are forbidden access. You're not going to get the kind of coverage that you would like in music magazines, you're not going to get played on radio and you're not going to get played on television. I have to survive on word of mouth. David Bowie
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I'm in awe of the universe, but I don't necessarily believe there's an intelligence or agent behind it. I do have a passion for the visual in religious rituals, though, even though they may be completely empty and bereft of substance. David Bowie
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I'm in awe of the universe, but I don't necessarily believe there's an intelligence or agent behind it. I do have a passion for the visual in religious rituals, though, even though they may be completely empty and bereft of substance. The incense is powerful and provocative, whether Buddhist or Catholic. David Bowie
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There's a schizoid streak within the family anyway so I dare say that I'm affected by that. The majority of the people in my family have been in some kind of mental institution, as for my brother he doesn't want to leave. He likes it very much. David Bowie
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Everything I read about hitting a midlife crisis was true. I had such a struggle letting go of youthful things and learning how to exist and have enthusiasm while settling into the comfort of an older age. David Bowie
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The truth is of course is that there is no journey. We are arriving and departing all at the same time. David Bowie
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Fame itself... doesn't really afford you anything more than a good seat in a restaurant. David Bowie
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It is amazing how a new child can refocus one's direction seconds after its birth. David Bowie
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I realized the other day that I've lived in New York longer than I've lived anywhere else. It's amazing: I am a New Yorker. It's strange I never thought I would be. David Bowie
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It's amazing: I am a New Yorker. It's strange I never thought I would be. David Bowie
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I'm not one of those guys that has a great worldview. I kind of deal with terror and fear and isolation and abandonment. David Bowie
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I'm looking for backing for an unauthorized auto-biography that I am writing. Hopefully, this will sell in such huge numbers that I will be able to sue myself for an extraordinary amount of money and finance the film version in which I will play everybody. David Bowie
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When it comes down to it, glam rock was all very amusing. At the time, it was funny, then a few years later it became sort of serious-looking and a bit foreboding. David Bowie
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The humanists' replacement for religion: work really hard and somehow you'll either save yourself or you'll be immortal. Of course, that's a total joke, and our progress is nothing. There may be progress in technology but there's no ethical progress whatsoever. David Bowie
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Songs don't have to be about going out on Saturday night and having a good rink-up and driving home and crashing cars. A lot of what I've done is about alienation... about where you fit in society. David Bowie
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When I was 18, I thought that, to be a romantic, you couldn't live past 30. David Bowie
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Anxiety and spiritual searching have been consistent themes with me, and that figures into my worldview. But I tend to make my songs sound like relationship songs. David Bowie
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I feel confident imposing change on myself. It's a lot more fun progressing than looking back. That's why I need to throw curve balls. David Bowie
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I find only freedom in the realms of eccentricity. David Bowie
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I'm very at ease, and I like it. I never thought I would be such a family-oriented guy; I didn't think that was part of my makeup. But somebody said that as you get older you become the person you always should have been, and I feel that's happening to me. I'm rather surprised at who I am, because I'm actually like my dad! David Bowie
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And I saw the sax line-up that he had behind him and I thought, I'm going to learn the saxophone. When I grow up, I'm going to play in his band. So I sort of persuaded my dad to get me a kind of a plastic saxophone on the hire purchase plan. David Bowie