Quotes by Pete Seeger

About Pete Seeger:

Peter was an American folk singer and activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead Belly's "Goodnight, Irene", which topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. Members of the Weavers were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. In the 1960s, he re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music in support of international disarmament, civil rights, counterculture and environmental causes.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Down through the centuries, this trick has been tried by various establishments throughout the world. They force people to get involved in the kind of examination that has only one aim and that is to stamp out dissent.

Pete Seeger

One of the things I'm most proud of about my country is the fact that we did lick McCarthyism back in the fifties.

Pete Seeger

I am not going to answer any questions as to my association, my philosophical or religious beliefs or my political beliefs, or how I voted in any election, or any of these private affairs.

Pete Seeger

I have sung in hobo jungles, and I have sung for the Rockefellers, and I am proud that I have never refused to sing for anybody.

Pete Seeger

I want to turn the clock back to when people lived in small villages and took care of each other.

Pete Seeger

I still call myself a communist, because communism is no more what Russia made of it than Christianity is what the churches make of it.

Pete Seeger

It's a very important thing to learn to talk to people you disagree with.

Pete Seeger

If there's something wrong, speak up!

Pete Seeger

Songs won't save the planet, but neither will books or speeches.

Pete Seeger

Being generous of spirit is a wonderful way to live.

Pete Seeger

I am saying voluntarily that I have sung for almost every religious group in the country, from Jewish and Catholic, and Presbyterian and Holy Rollers and Revival Churches, and I do this voluntarily.

Pete Seeger

I like to say I'm more conservative than Goldwater. He just wanted to turn the clock back to when there was no income tax.

Pete Seeger

I live in the country, so I get a fair amount of exercise. We heat our house with wood, so I split wood. We also live on a steep hill, and I have to rake and put in cross-stitches to keep the road from washing out when there's a big rain.

Pete Seeger

I try to sing many different kinds of songs. If I sing a batch of humorous songs, I'll throw in a deadly serious song. Or if I'm singing too many serious songs, I'll throw in a ridiculous song, to mix it up.

Pete Seeger

Some of my ancestors were religious dissenters who came to America over three hundred years ago. Others were abolitionists in New England in the eighteen forties and fifties.

Pete Seeger

I believe that my choosing my present course I do no dishonor to them, or to those who may come after me.

Pete Seeger

Historically, I believe I was correct in refusing to answer their questions.

Pete Seeger

But I decline to say who has ever listened to them, who has written them, or other people who have sung them.

Pete Seeger

I decline to discuss, under compulsion, where I have sung, and who has sung my songs, and who else has sung with me, and the people I have known.

Pete Seeger

I've found that festivals are a relatively painless way to meet people and make a few points that need making, without having to hit them over the head with too many speeches.

Pete Seeger

Author Bio

  • NamePete Seeger
  • DescriptionAmerican folk singer
  • AliasesPeter Seeger
  • BornMay 3, 1919
  • DiedJanuary 27, 2014
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionSinger; Street Artist; Banjoist; Musicologist; Singer-songwriter; Guitarist
  • WorksWhere Have All The Flowers Gone?
  • AwardsNational Medal Of Arts; Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award