The 50 Best Henry Rollins Quotes

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Though Henry Rollins has often expressed frustration with the media, he seldom passes up an interview, knowing the value of promotion. Meanwhile, the press always obliges because there are few musicians more quotable than the former Black Flag frontman. He's honest, he's articulate and he's controversial. So, in honor of the punk legend/spoken-word artist/author/actor/former TV show host recently turning 50, we've culled 50 of his best quotes from a variety of sources.

50. The Horror, the Horror

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"I've seen 'Apocalypse Now' 11 times, and I get depressed because I'm not in Cambodia with chopped heads all over. I'm only pulling up to a club and playing. If I could find the opening to the heart of darkness, I would throw myself in. I want to feel the horror." --Miami Herald, June 14, 1985

49. Death and Remembrance

"The guy shot at me and missed but killed my friend and, the next morning, after the cops turned me loose, I was cleaning my friend's brain off the lawn. I had the remains of his head in my hands. That's stuff you don't forget." --on the death of his friend Joe Cole, The Guardian (U.K.), 2008

48. Feeling Good About Feeling Bad

"I don't like to feel good for too long - it makes me get kind of freaked out. It makes me think, oh, I'm here enjoying this or that or whatever, and my best friend's in a box, a pile of ashes in a box. What's he enjoying?" --Associated Press, Dec. 28, 1992

47. Martyr for the Punk Cause

"Most of the people who call me a sellout were 7 when I was down face-first in the punk trenches. I made punk safe for them. I took the beating for them. I fought their fight. I was doing the shows when there were still noses being broken, and beer bottles being thrown, and people hitting each other over the head with monkey wrenches. People in Austin can ask the Dicks and the Big Boys and the Butthole Surfers about all that." --Austin American-Statesman, Feb. 6, 1996

46. Let It Bleed

"Richard Hell played here tonight and let us and the Minuteman open up. We went off. I got all cut up. I bit a skinhead in the mouth and he started to bleed real bad." --from his book 'Get in the Van'

45. Gathering No Moss

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"If I wrote 'Satisfaction,' I might want to sing it every night, too. Bands like that, there's not a whole lot of new stuff in their set. If they play two songs off the new album, everyone goes to sleep. They have to play this one, that one or that one. Or everyone goes, 'Hey man, what's up with that?' --about the current state of the Rolling Stones, Noisecreep, Dec. 31, 2009

44. Punching His Ticket

"I've heard all about it. And you know what? I don't give a f--- about it. It sounds to me like the kid was being a d--- and he got something back. And, my friend, there's some people you shouldn't f--- with, you know what I mean? And you get what you get. And you can go cry to your mama about it, but when you go back to those times, you look back and go, 'Yeah, well, that wasn't my day.'" --regarding a YouTube video of him punching out a fan during the Black Flag days, Spinner, July 9, 2010

43. Military Man

"I get letters from the wives saying my husband died. I get letters from the moms. I got a letter from one mom who wants me to write a letter to her son to try and talk him out of joining the Army. I get letters from wives who miss their husbands, moms what to tell me regretfully that their son, who loved my DVDs, and his friends, who all love my DVDs, and they all listen to my CDs out there, he died two days ago and she had to tell somebody. A guy who shot and killed a child mistakenly, he writes me and asks me to give him good reason why he shouldn't kill himself. These are the letters I get, and I get them pretty often." --Mother Jones, July 24, 2007

42. A Vote for Jimmy Carter

"I think he was probably the one politician who wasn't all bad. I think history's fine with him. It's a bunch of douchebag Republican conservatives who hate him because he doesn't want to drop bombs on people." --on Jimmy Carter, Spinner, April 10, 2008

41. No Peace Till the End

"I take lessons from the quiet phone, the un-knocked- on door, the unopened mailbox and the clock that won't shut off. Someday, I'll substitute a bullet for two Tylenol." --from his book 'Two Thirteen Sixty One'

40. Special Delivery

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"His letters would always have swastikas on them, so they were easy to spot." --on being pen pals with Charles Manson, NME, Sept. 2, 2008

39. Topping the Bill

"Doesn't matter where you put us on the bill, or who you put us on the bill with, the result is always the same: We tear your face off." --on Black Flag, San Diego Union-Tribune, July 20, 1991

38. American Gothic

"Some of your best moments come when you're the king -- or queen -- of pain. That's when you lock yourself in your room, paint your fingernails black, turn out the lights, listen to a Cure record and write poetry." --spoken-word performance, Brookline, Mass., Aug. 8, 1991

37. Musical Therapy

"The world's a better place since I chose music. I like the physical aspect of it, the volume and the intensity of it. It's loud and hard. I like all that because inside me I feel like screaming." --The New York Times, April 22, 1992

36. Gay Is OK

"My mom had gay friends. I had gay bosses. When you see the kind of hatred exacted at these people who can't help how they feel about men, it's sad. What if it was weird to be straight? What if someone said, 'What's wrong with you?' to me, for staring at a woman?" --Wichita Eagle, June 25, 2010

35. Literary Bent

Amazon

"I read the Tropics and 'Black Spring' and I said, 'Wow!' I never realized how much literature could impact on life. I read Hemingway and Steinbeck, and they were great. Then I read (Henry) Miller, and I didn't want to sleep anymore, because he's so inspiring and alive." --Chicago Sun-Times, March 6, 1994

34. The Horror of Stephen King

"I think the literary [world] is the biggest collection of snobs I've ever encountered.... They want to [publish] Stephen King, so he can write the same book every year. --National Civil Rights Museum's fall conference, Sept. 30, 1995

33. An Outlet for Your Aggression

"It's good to be able to deal with it [anger] somehow other than drinking, fighting, crashing cars, hitting your kid, your wife, your husband, your whatever. Paintbrushes, pens, movie cameras, guitars, microphones, typewriters -- these are good things. Weights. These are positive ways, good ways to deal with anger, frustration, alienation, rage. 'Cause all the other ways do nothing but hurt people." --New Orleans Times-Picayune, March 26, 1993

32. The Popular Artist

"I don't really get why I'm popular now, either. I'm too old, I'm not hip, and I definitely don't make music you can dance or make out to. But who knows why people like you? Maybe people like musicians who are too old, not hip and don't make music you can dance or make out to. Maybe they can identify with that." --Chicago Sun-Times, Aug. 7, 1994

31. Nature or Nurture?

"I know I was a generic dysfunctional child, but I think a lot of people are. Who's to say what the norm is anymore? I don't think I can use that background as an excuse, or a reason for who I am today. You're born and your parents raise you however. Then it's up to you to make your life, to ruin it or make something of it." --Chicago Sun-Times, Aug. 7, 1994

30. Strip Teasing

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"If you have to go into one of them, first, you are afraid of women, and second, you hate them." --on strip clubs, during Rollins Band gig in Los Angeles, Aug. 1, 1994

29. Keep Austin Weird

"Nine years ago, I swore I'd never come to Austin again. Black Flag was playing at Liberty Lunch, and I got to watch the crowd, mostly white, single out one black guy and beat the [expletive] out of him. And when I said something, everyone got pissed, so we left. It was ugly. I couldn't believe that would happen in Austin, which I though was different from the rest of the Sieg Heil [stuff] in Texas." --Austin American-Statesman, Feb. 1, 1996

28. Dead Poets Society

"Most poets are elitist dregs more concerned with proving their skill with a dictionary than communicating ideas with impact. If I wanted a mystery, I'd read Sherlock Holmes. I don't want to hint around, I want to be depressed with a vengeance." --Miami Herald, June 14, 1985

27. His Amp Goes to 11

"When something's bugging me, I say let's put the amp on 11 and destroy it. Let's rage and break stuff, then we'll feel great." --San Diego Union-Tribune, April 2, 1992

26. Fueling the Fire

"If I saw your body burning in the street, I'd put you out with gasoline." --'The End of Nothing,' the Rollins Band