The fact is that ours is the first generation that can look disease and extreme poverty in the eye, look across the ocean to Africa, and say this, and mean it. We do not have to stand for this. A whole continent written off – we do not have to stand for this.
BONOThe only person who ever called me Paul was my father, so I always associate it with doing something wrong, you know. So, you know, occasionally, people will come up to me on the street and try to, you know, ingratiate themselves and call me Paul. I don’t like it, actually.
More Bono Quotes
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I felt rich when I was 20 years old and my wife was paying my bills. Just being in a band, I’ve always felt blessed.
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Marriage is this grand madness, and I think if people knew that, they would perhaps take it more seriously.
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I don’t know how U2 will stay relevant. I know we’ve got a future. I know we can fill stadiums. And yet with every record, I think, ‘Is this it? Are we still relevant?’
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I’m as skeptical as anyone would be about celebrities and causes – and I will dare to say to you that I don’t think of myself as a celebrity per se.
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Africa is a continent in flames. And deep down, if we really accepted that Africans were equal to us, we would all do more to put the fire out. We’re standing around with watering cans, when what we really need is the fire brigade.
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There was a moment when Prince did rock & roll with a sponge-y seductive sound. I think that’s what was in our head for ‘Get On Your Boots.’ But actually, the song is much more punk rock.
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You can never completely fill that hole-you can try with songs,family,faith and by living a full life…but when things are silent, you can still hear the hissing of what’s missing.
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When those people get up at the Grammys and say, “I thank God”, I always imagine God going, “Oh, don’t, please don’t thank me for that one. Please, oh, that’s an awful one! Don’t thank me for that – that’s a piece of crap !”
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It’s quite widespread in rock culture, that mythology of the shooting star. I’d rather be the North star. As bob (Dylan) says, you can navigate by it.
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As a musician and a songwriter it is an act of the ego to believe that other people might be interested in your point of view. But it is usually an empathetic nature that gets you going in the first place. Music keeps the heart porous in many ways.
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For all that “I was lost, I am found,” it is probably more accurate to say, “I was really lost, I’m a little less so at the moment.
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I truly believe that when the history books are written, our age will be remembered for three things: the war on terror, the digital revolution, and what we did – or did not do – to put the fire out in Africa. History, like God, is watching what we do.
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God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.
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In my view, the only thing worse than a rock star is a rock star with a conscience.
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The great music for so many artists – the Beatles, the Rolling Stones – was always at the moment when they were closest to pop. It would be easy for U2 to go off and have a concept album, but I want us to stay in the pop fray.
BONO