“It's better to burn out than to fade away.”

—  Neil Young

Misattributed

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "It's better to burn out than to fade away." by Neil Young?
Neil Young photo
Neil Young 65
Canadian singer-songwriter 1945

Related quotes

Kurt Cobain photo

“It's better to burn out than to fade away.”

Kurt Cobain (1967–1994) American musician and artist

Quoted by Cobain in his suicide note, this is from the song My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) by Neil Young, from his album Rust Never Sleeps (1979)
Misattributed
Variant: It's better to burn out than fade away.

John Lennon photo

“It's better to fade away like an old soldier than to burn out.”

John Lennon (1940–1980) English singer and songwriter

Playboy interview (1980)
Context: It's better to fade away like an old soldier than to burn out. I don't appreciate worship of dead Sid Vicious or of dead James Dean or of dead John Wayne. It's the same thing. Making Sid Vicious a hero, Jim Morrison — it's garbage to me. I worship the people who survive. Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo.

Neil Young photo

“My my, hey hey
Rock and roll is here to stay.
It's better to burn out
Than to fade away.
My my, hey hey.”

Neil Young (1945) Canadian singer-songwriter

Hey Hey, My My, written with Jeff Blackburn; quoted by Kurt Cobain in his suicide note.
Song lyrics, Rust Never Sleeps (1978)

Amelia Earhart photo

“Better do a good deed near at home than go far away to burn incense.”

Amelia Earhart (1897–1937) American aviation pioneer and author

Chinese proverb, as quoted in The Homiletic Review, Vol. 90 (1925), p. 363
Misattributed

Boris Yeltsin photo

“A man must live like a great brilliant flame and burn as brightly as he can. In the end he burns out. But this is far better than a mean little flame.”

Boris Yeltsin (1931–2007) 1st President of Russia and Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR

Statement to a TImes reporter in 1990, as quoted in "The wit and wisdom of Boris" in Guardian Unlimited (23 April 2007)
1990s

George William Russell photo
Neil Young photo

“The king is gone
But he's not forgotten.
This is the story
Of a Johnny Rotten
It's better to burn out
Than it is to rust.
The king is gone
But he's not forgotten.”

Neil Young (1945) Canadian singer-songwriter

Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)
Song lyrics, Rust Never Sleeps (1978)

Jenny Han photo
Jean-Dominique Bauby photo
Dave Matthews photo

“Don't burn the day away.”

Dave Matthews (1967) American singer-songwriter, musician and actor

Pig
Before These Crowded Streets (1998)

Related topics