If you have the guts to keep making mistakes, your wisdom and intelligence leap forward with huge momentum. – Holly Near
My creativity and my political work are linked. I don’t do this work out of guilt or out of responsibility. – Holly Near
To come to a concert and hear a lot of songs from a female perspective should not make men say, ‘Oh well, that’s for women’. – Holly Near
The women’s movement completely changed attitudes all over the world in ways we’ll never be able to count. – Holly Near
We who are interested in relative truth have to keep digging for it and not let ourselves be sucked under. – Holly Near
If I didn’t think and feel the way I think and feel, I couldn’t sing the way I sing. And I like singing the way I sing. – Holly Near
Once women are not excluded, I don’t think any of us will give a damn what pronouns are used. That wasn’t the point. – Holly Near
When the students were killed at Kent State, the cast voted to do a demonstration from the stage, and I abstained. – Holly Near
Music can be used against us as much as it can be used for us. Muzak can put a whole nation to sleep, whereas a lullaby is intended to put a child to sleep in a sweet way. – Holly Near
My parents had been involved in the labor movement; if we’d grown up in the city, we would have been red-diaper babies. – Holly Near
To my great surprise and pleasure, I have had dinner with most of the people living with whom I would like to have dinner. – Holly Near
When an audience comes to one of my concerts, I hope they’ll see themselves, somewhere, in one of the songs. – Holly Near
Part of being an artist is being willing to be shocked, being willing to be surprised, being willing to be hurt. – Holly Near
Leaping away from my mistakes has propelled me forward. It has great force behind it. It makes for great storytelling. – Holly Near
My parents encouraged thought. You’ll get through life better if you learn how to think. – Holly Near
