Bono: Trending quotes (page 8)

“I'm the first to admit that there's something unnatural… something unseemly… about rock stars mounting the pulpit and preaching at presidents, and then disappearing to their villas in the South of France. Talk about a fish out of water. It was weird enough when Jesse Helms showed up at a U2 concert… but this is really weird, isn't it?”

Bono

National Prayer Breakfast (2006)

Star , Fish , Water

“You know that Johnny Cash song "A Boy Named Sue" where he gives the kid a girl's name, and the kid is beaten up at every stage in his life by macho guys, but in the end he becomes the toughest man. … By not encouraging me to be a musician, even though that's all he ever wanted to be, he's made me one. By telling me never to have big dreams or else, that to dream is to be disappointed, he made me have big dreams. By telling me that the band would only last five minutes or ten minutes — we're still here.”

Bono

On his father
Rolling Stone interview (2005)

Life , Dreams , Disappointment , Guy

“All That You Can't Leave Behind and How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb are both really mad long titles. As I've just said them, I've just realised how ridiculous the titles are.”

Bono

CNN Interview, after the 2006 Grammys http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/showbiz/2006/02/09/u2.wins.five.grammys.cnn&wm=10 (9 February 2006)

Madness

“Choose your enemies carefully ‘cos they will define you
Make them interesting ‘cos in some ways they will mind you
They’re not there in the beginning but when your story ends
Gonna last with you longer than your friend”

Bono

Cedars Of Lebanon
Lyrics, No Line On The Horizon (2009)

Way

“I can stand up for hope, faith, love
But while I'm getting over certainty
Stop helping God across the road
Like a little old lady”

Bono

Stand Up Comedy
Lyrics, No Line On The Horizon (2009)

Love , God , Faith , Hope

“Love is not the easy thing…
The only baggage you can bring
Is all that you can't leave behind.”

Bono

Lyrics, All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000), Walk On

Love

“When we were growing up, the 45 single was the heart of rock-and-roll and in many regards still is. It's the hardest thing to pull off. The surest sign that a band is growing stale and running out of creative ideas is when it turns to prog. And I well remember the 1970s when prog almost destroyed rock music. It's the mold growing on a congealed band on its last legs. Indeed, it still lurks among us in new, insidious forms like indie. The few times U2 has attempted prog, we've tempered it with good songwriting.”

Bono

Music , Idea , Time , Heart

“We're One but We're not the same. Well, We hurt each other and We'll do it again. You say love is a temple, Love a higher law. Love is a temple, Love a higher law. You ask Me to enter, then You make Me crawl. And I can't be holding on to what you got, when all You've got is hurt.”

Bono

"One"
Lyrics, Achtung Baby (1991)

Love , Law , Hurt

“We actually aren't able to play other people's songs. The one Stones song we tried to play was "Jumpin' Jack Flash." It was really bad. So we started writing our own — it was easier.”

Bono

Rolling Stone interview (2005)

People

“My name is Bono and I am a rock star.”

Bono

An allusion to Apple Computer's "switch" commercials, which ended with such statements.
PENN Address (2004)

Star

“What a city, what a night, what a crowd, what a bomb, what a mistake, what a wanker you have for a President.”

Bono

Acceptance speech at the MTV Europe Music Awards, referring to French nuclear testing in Pacific (1995)

Night

“I wish you were here
I wish you were here
To see what I could see
To hear
And I wish you were here”

Bono

"Stranger in a Strange Land"
Lyrics, October (1981)

“I will try to keep my homily brief. But be warned — I'm Irish.”

Bono

National Prayer Breakfast (2006)

“I really remember John Lennon's Imagine. I guess I'm twelve; that's one of my first albums. That really set fire to me. It was like he was whispering in your ear — his ideas of what's possible. Different ways of seeing the world.”

Bono

Rolling Stone interview (2005)

World , Way , Imagination , Idea

“Walk on, walk on
What you've got they can't deny it
Can't sell it, can't buy it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight.”

Bono

Lyrics, All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000), Walk On

“Well, the heart that hurts is a heart that beats.”

Bono

"One Step Closer"
Lyrics, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004)

Heart , Hurt

“The songs are in your eyes.
I see them when you smile.”

Bono

Lyrics, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004)

Smile

“Sometimes you can't make it.
The best you can do is to fake it.
Sometimes you can't make it on your own.”

Bono

"Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own"
Lyrics, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004)

“Who in Ireland could have too much respect for organized religion? We've seen it tear our country in two. My mother was a Protestant. My father was a Catholic. And I learned that religion is often the enemy of God, actually.”

Bono

CNN Larry King Weekend (2002)

God , Religion , Tear , Learning

“I've never left Ireland, really, you know you come here, come to America, I mean for Irish people America is kind of a promise land" … "It's the milk and honey ya know and we've always had this feeling for this country and the country I think has a feeling for our band”

Bono

CNN Larry King Weekend (2002)

People , Feeling , Thinking , Country