Explore Bob Marley's iconic quotes on love, life, strength, and self-acceptance. Be inspired to seize the beauty in each moment and radiate love and positivity. Let his transformative messages resonate with your soul.
Robert Nesta Marley, born in Nine Mile, Jamaica, was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. He is considered one of the pioneers of reggae music and gained international recognition for his fusion of reggae, ska, and rocksteady. Marley's music brought Jamaican music to the forefront of popular culture and made him a global symbol of Jamaican identity. He was also known for his advocacy for social reforms and support for the Rastafari movement. Despite surviving an assassination attempt in 1976 and battling cancer in his later years, Marley continued to create influential music until his death in 1981.
Marley started his musical career as part of the group The Wailers and later became known as Bob Marley and the Wailers. They released several successful albums including "Natty Dread" and "Rastaman Vibration". Marley achieved international fame with hits like "No Woman, No Cry" and "I Shot the Sheriff". He promoted unity among people through his music and incorporated elements of blues, soul, and British rock into his songs. Marley's legacy lives on through his best-selling album "Legend" and his influence on countless artists around the world. He received various accolades posthumously including induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and being named one of Rolling Stone's greatest artists of all time.
“It is better to live on the house top
than to live in a house full of confusion.”
Running Away, from the album Kaya
Song lyrics
“Every day the bucket a-go a well, one day the bottom a-go drop out.”
I Shot The Sheriff, from the album Burnin (1973)
Song lyrics
“until the end of the world, all whys will be answered, but now, you can only ask!”
Source: Bob Marley Talking
Get Up, Stand Up (cowritten with Peter Tosh), from the album Burnin (1973)
Song lyrics
Redemption Song; the song was inspired by a speech by Marcus Garvey in Nova Scotia in October 1937, published in his Black Man magazine, Vol. 3, no. 10 (July 1938), pp. 7-11:
We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind. Mind is your only ruler, sovereign. The man who is not able to develop and use his mind is bound to be the slave of the other man who uses his mind.
Uprising (1979)
“In the high tide or low tide, I'm gonna be your friend… I'm gonna be your friend!”
Song High Tide Or Low Tide
“They say: only the fittest of the fittest shall survive, stay alive!”
Could You Be Loved
Uprising (1979)
Disputed, No Woman, No Cry, from the album Natty Dread (1974)
“And what has been hidden from the wise and the prudent been revealed in the mouth of the toddlers.”
Forever Loving Jah
Uprising (1979)
As quoted in Rolling Stone's The Immortals (2004) "Bob"
As recorded in filmed interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsfYAJ3dQyY&feature=player_embedded (1979) with Dylan Taite in Aotearoa, New Zealand
The people who are trying to make this world worse aren't taking a day off. How can I?
“A hungry mob is an angry mob.”
Them Belly Full (But We Hungry), from the album Natty Dread (1974)
Song lyrics
“In the abundance of water a fool is thirsty.”
Rat Race, from the album Rastaman Vibration
Song lyrics
“Your life is worth much more than gold.”
Jamming, from the album Exodus (1977)
Song lyrics
“Truth is the light
So you never give up the fight.”
Final jamming of Live at the Roxy (recorded 1976)
Song lyrics
Song lyrics, Judge Not (single, 1961)
“The more you accept herb, the more you accept Rastafari.”
"Bob Marley interview on Marijuana" (1979) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foFbFOxbPJk from the Come A Long Way documentary, made for New Zealand TV show Good Day (1979) with reporter Dylan Taite
“Two thousand years of history Black History could not be wiped away so easily.”
Zion Train
Uprising (1979)
“Excuse me while I light my spliff, good God I gotta take a lift.”
Easy Skanking, from the album Kaya (1978)
Song lyrics
Easy Skanking, from the album Kaya (1978) · Video on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlqB13iJu2o
Song lyrics
