Bob Marley's Quotes

Sourced
One love, one heart, let's get together and feel alright.
"One Love" (cowritten with Curtis Mayfield).
Don't worry about a thing, 'cos every little thing is gonna be alright.
"Three Little Birds"
Life is worth much more than gold.
"Jamming"
Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind. Have no fear for atomic energy, cos none of them can stop the time.
"Redemption Song"
They say: only the fittest of the fittest should survive, stay alive!
"Could you be loved"
Truth is the light / Never give up the fight.
Final jamming of Live at the Roxy
Judge not, before you judge yourself. Judge not, if you're not ready for judgement, whoa oh oh
Judge Not

Disputed
Some famous songs were sung by Marley, but writing credits were actually given to his close friend Vincent Ford.

Good friends we have had, oh good friends we've lost along the way
In this bright future you can't forget your past
So dry your tears I say
No woman, no cry
No woman, no cry
Little darlin' don't shed no tears
No woman, no cry
No Woman, No Cry
Ev'rything's gonna be alright
So, no woman, no cry
No Woman, No Cry
Say you just can't live that negative way
You know what I mean
Make way for the positive day
Cause it's a new day.
"Positive Vibration" a song sung by Marley on the album Rastaman Vibration (1976).
Some people say great God come from the sky take away everything and make everybody feel high, but if you know what life is worth, you will look for yours on earth.

Attributed
A little wine sometimes. Spirits are bad, alcohol wrong. Herb does grow.
All dese governments and dis an' dat, dese people that say they're here to help, why them say you cannot smoke the herb? Herb... herb is a plant, ya know? And when me check it, me can't find no reason. All them say is, 'it make ya rebel'. AGAINST WHAT?
Bob Marley isn't my name. I don't even know my name yet.
Don't gain the world and lose your soul, wisdom is better than silver and gold.
Don't let them fool ya or even try to school ya.
Every man got a right to decide his own destiny.
Every man think his burden is the heaviest, who feels it knows it, lord.
Facts an' facts, an' t'ings an t'ings: dem's all a lotta fuckin' bullshit. Hear me! Dere is no truth but the one truth, an' that is the truth of Jah Rastafari.
He who feels it, knows it more.
Herb is the unifier of the people.
How good and how pleasant it would be before God and man, to see the unification of all Africans.
I believe in freedom for everyone, not just the black man.
I don't have prejudice against myself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white.
I drive a jeep. An old jeep, so nobody will say I'm driving a BMW anymore. I couldn't stand that BMW, ha ha ha! BMW make pure trouble!
I handle fame by not being famous...I'm not famous to me.
I have a BMW. But only because BMW stands for Bob Marley and The Wailers, and not because I need an expensive car.
I have got a running stream of love you see. So no matter what stages.. they put us through, we'll never be blue.
I know what I am and that is a Rastaman.
I love the development of our music, that's what I really dig about the whole thing. How we've tried to develop, y'know? It grows. That's why every day people come forward with new songs. Music goes on forever.
I want to say 'I shot the police' but the government would have made a fuss so I said 'I shot the sheriff' instead... but it's the same idea: justice.
I've been here before and will come again, but I'm not going this trip through.
If I am guilty I will pay.
If you are the big tree, we are the small axe, ready to cut you down.
If you get down and you quarell everyday, you're saying prayers to the devil, I say.
In the abundance of water, the fool is thirsty.
It not we against the system, it the system against we.
Jah show every mon him hand, and Jah has show I mine.
Life and Jah are one in the same. Jah is the gift of existence. I am in some way eternal, I will never be duplicated. The singularity of every man and woman is Jah's gift. What we struggle to make of it is our sole gift to Jah. The process of what that struggle becomes, in time, the Truth.
Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don't complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don't bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality.
Love would never leave us alone.
Man is a universe within himself.
Me got no education, me got inspiration. If I was educated I'd be a damn fool.
Me not on the black man's side, me not on the white man's side. Me on God's side
Me only have one ambition, y'know. I only have one thing I would really like to see happen. I'd like to see mankind live together - black, white, Chinese, everyone - that's all.
Money can't buy life
Music and herb go together. It's been a long time now I smoke herb. From 1960s, when I first start singing.
My music fights against the system that teaches to live and die.
My music will go on forever. Maybe it's a fool say that, but when me know facts me can say facts. My music will go on forever.
No man can lead man, we have to have unity.
One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.
Open your eyes, look within. Are you satisfied with the life you're living?
Overcome the devils with a thing named love.
People want to listen to a message, word from Jah. This could be passed through me or anybody. I am not a leader. Messenger. The words of the songs, not the person, is what attracts people.
Politics no interest me. Dem Devil business. Dem a play with people's minds. Never play with people's minds.
Positive vibrations man. That's what makes it work. That's reggae music. You can't look away because it's real. You listen to what I sing because I mean what I sing, there's no secret, no big deal. Just honesty, that's all. (1977)
Puss and dog, they get together, what's wrong with loving one another?
Rise O fallen fighters, rise and take your stance again, He who fight and run away, Live to fight another day.
Some people got everything, some people got nothing, some people got ways and means, some people got no hope it seems... we're the survivors.
Stand up for your rights.
The good times of today are the sad thoughts of tomorrow.
The more people smoke herb, the more Babylon fall.
They don't want to see us unite. All they want us to do is keep on fussing and fighting, they don't want to see us live together. All they want us to do is keep on killing one another.
To make music is a life that I have to live.
Until the philosophy which hold one race superior and another inferior is finally discredited and abandoned...WAR! So that is prophecy, and everyone know that is truth. And it came out of the mouth of Rastafari.
We should really love each other in peace and harmony, instead we're fussin' n fighting like we ain't supposed to be.
Well, me don't swim too tough so me don't go in the water too deep.
When Bob's talking, have no doubt, seen?
When one door is closed don't you know another is open.
When the race gets hard to run. It means you just can't take the pace.
When you smoke herb it reveals you to yourself. All the wickedness you do is revealed by the herb. It is your conscience and gives you a clearer picture of yourself.
You ain't gonna miss your water until your well runs dry.
You can fool some people sometimes, but you can't fool all the people all the time. ** Usually attributed to Abraham Lincoln or P. T. Barnum)
You mean they can tell God that it's not legal?
When told that it was illegal to grow marijuana, that is created by God.
The lips of the righteous teach many, But fools die for want of wisdom.
Biblical quote

Awards and Honours

1976: Band of the Year (Rolling Stone)
June 1978: Awarded the Peace Medal of the Third World from the United Nations
February 1981: Awarded Jamaica's third highest honor, the Jamaican Order of Merit
March 1994: Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
1999: Album of the Century for Exodus (Time Magazine)
February 2001: A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
February 2001: Awarded Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
2004: Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #11 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
2005: Posthumous Achievement Award
"One Love" named song of the millennium by The BBC
Voted as one of the greatest lyricists of all time by a BBC poll.

Discography

Studio albums
Album Release Date Label
The Wailing Wailers 1966 Studio One
The Best of the Wailers 1970 Beverley's
Soul Rebels 1970 Upsetter/Trojan
Soul Revolution 1971 Upsetter/Trojan
Soul Revolution Part II 1971 Upsetter/Trojan
African Herbsman 1973 Upsetter/Trojan
Rasta Revolution 1974 Upsetter/Trojan
Catch a Fire 1973 Island/Tuff Gong
Burnin' 1973 Island/Tuff Gong
Natty Dread 1974 Island/Tuff Gong
Rastaman Vibration 1976 Island/Tuff Gong
Exodus 1977 Island/Tuff Gong
Kaya 1978 Island/Tuff Gong
Survival 1979 Island/Tuff Gong
Uprising 1980 Island/Tuff Gong
Confrontation (posthumous) 1983 Island/Tuff Gong


Live albums
Album Release Date Label
Live! 1975 Island/Tuff Gong
Babylon by Bus 1978 Island/Tuff Gong
Talkin' Blues (recorded in 1973) 1991 Island/Tuff Gong
Live at the Roxy (recorded in 1976) 2003 Island/Tuff Gong


Compilations
Album Release Date Label
Interviews 1981 Island/Tuff Gong
Legend 1984 Island/Tuff Gong
Rebel Music 1986 Island/Tuff Gong
Songs of Freedom 1992 Island/Tuff Gong
Natural Mystic: The Legend Lives On 1995 Island/Tuff Gong
Bob Marley: Reggae Legend 1999 St. Clair
One Love: The Very Best of Bob Marley & The Wailers 2001 Island/Tuff Gong
Bob Marley and The Wailers: Trenchtown Rock (Anthology '69 - '78) 2002 Trojan Records
Gold 2005 Island/Tuff Gong
Africa Unite: The Singles Collection 2005 Island/Tuff Gong


Compilations of material recorded at Studio One 1963–1966
Album Release Date Label
One Love at Studio One (double CD) 1991 Heartbeat Records
Simmer Down at Studio One (same as disc one of One Love) 1994 Heartbeat Records
Wailing Wailers at Studio One (same as disc two of One Love) 1994 Heartbeat Records
The Toughest – collection of Peter Tosh's Studio One recordings 1996 Heartbeat Records
Destiny: Rare Ska Sides from Studio One 1999 Heartbeat Records
Wailers and Friends 1999 Heartbeat Records
Climb the Ladder 2000 Heartbeat Records
Greatest Hits at Studio One 2003 Heartbeat Records
One Love at Studio One (double CD re-issue) 2006 Heartbeat Records


Compilations of material recorded 1966–1971
Album Release Date Label
Rock to the rock 1999 Jad/Koch International/Universal
Feel Alright 2004 JAD/Universal
Best of the Wailers 2004 JAD/Universal
Soul Rebels 2004 JAD/Universal
Soul Revolution Part II 2004 JAD/Universal
Upsetter Revolution Rhythm 2004 JAD/Universal
Universal Masters Collection 2004 JAD/Universal
Original Cuts 2004 JAD/Universal
127 King Street 2004 JAD/Universal
Ammunition Dub Collection 2004 JAD/Universal
Wail'N Soul'M Singles Selecta 2005 JAD/Universal
Grooving Kingston 12 (3-CD boxset) 2004 JAD/Universal
Fy-Ah, Fy-Ah (3-CD boxset) 2004 JAD/Universal
Man To Man (4-CD boxset) 2005 JAD/Universal


Official albums containing remixes
Album Release Date Label
Chances Are 1981 WEA
Soul Almighty: The Formative Years Vol.1 1996 JAD
Black Progress: The Formative Years Vol.2 1997 JAD
Dreams Of Freedom: Ambient Translations in Dub 1997 Island
Chant Down Babylon 1999 Island
Shakedown: Marley Remix 2001 JAD


Tribute albums containing re-recordings
Album Release Date Label
Like Father Like Son 1996 WEA
Stir It Up: The Music of Bob Marley 1999 Telarc
Kaya N'Gan Daya 2002 WEA
Concrete Jungle: The Music of Bob Marley 2006 Telarc


Notable cover versions
Johnny Nash "Stir It Up" (1972)
Eric Clapton "I Shot the Sheriff" ("461 Ocean Boulevard", 1974)
Shakespear's Sister "Could You Be Loved" (Sacred Heart, 1989)
Lauryn Hill with Bob Marley "Turn the Lights Down Low" (Chant Down Babylon, 1999)
Damian Marley "And Be Loved" (Blue Crush soundtrack, 2002)
Sublime "Trenchtown Rock" (Second-hand Smoke, 1997)

His Children

More Details about Bob Marley Children

Bob Marley had 17 children: three with his wife Rita, two adopted from Rita's previous relationships, and the remaining eight with separate women His children are, in order of birth:

Imani Carole, born May 22, 1963 to Cheryl Murray
David "Ziggy", born October 17, 1968 to Rita;
Stephen, born April 20, 1972 to Rita;
Robert "Robbie", born May 16, 1972 to Pat Williams;
Rohan, born May 19, 1972 to Janet Hunt;
Robert "Diaz", born June 11, 1973 to Janet Hunt;VALENTINA
Karen, born 1973 to Janet Bowen;
Stephanie, born 1974; according to Cedella Booker she was product from an affair of Rita with a man called Ital, but she was acknowledged as Bob's daughter;
Julian, born June 4, 1975 to Lucy Pounder;
Ky-Mani, born February 26, 1976 to Anita Belnavis;
Rony "Round" Jo, born February 14, 1978 to Anita Belnavis;
Damian, born July 21, 1978 to Cindy Breakspeare;
Sylburn, born March 21, 1981 to Cindy Breakspeare;
Makeda, born May 30, 1981 to Yvette Crichton



More Details about Bob Marley children

His Religion

Bob Marley was a member of the Rastafari movement, whose culture was a key element in the development of reggae. Bob Marley became the leading proponent of the Rastafari, taking their music out of the socially deprived areas of Jamaica and onto the international music scene.

Now considered a "Rasta" legend, Marley's adoption of the characteristic Rastafari dreadlocks and famous use of cannabis as a sacred sacrament in the late sixties were an integral part of his persona. He is said to have entered every performance proclaiming the divinity of Jah Rastafari.

Many of Marley's songs contained Biblical references, sometimes using wordplay to fuse activism and religion, as in "Revolution" and "Revelation":

“ Revelation, reveals the truth... ”
“ It takes a revolution to make a solution... ”

A few months before his death, Marley was baptised into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and took the name Berhane Selassie (meaning the Light of the Holy Trinity in Amharic).

Later Years

Cancer Diagnosis
In July 1977, Marley was found to have malignant melanoma in a football wound on his right hallux (big toe). Marley refused amputation, citing worries that the operation would affect his dancing, as well as the Rastafari belief that the body must be "whole"

“ Rasta no abide amputation. I don't allow a man to be dismantled. ”
—From the biography Catch a Fire


Marley may have seen medical doctors as samfai. True to this belief Marley went against all surgical possibilities and sought out other means that would not break his religious beliefs. He also refused to register a will, based on the Rastafari belief that writing one acknowledged death as inevitable and disregarded the everlasting character of life.


Collapse and treatment
The cancer then spread to Marley's brain, lungs, liver, and stomach. After playing two shows at Madison Square Garden as part of his fall 1980 Uprising Tour, he collapsed while jogging in NYC's Central Park. The remainder of the tour was subsequently cancelled.

Bob Marley played his final concert at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 23, 1980. The live version of "Redemption Song" on Songs of Freedom was recorded at this show. Marley afterwards sought medical help from Munich specialist Josef Issels, but his cancer had already progressed to the terminal stage.

Death and posthumous reputation
While flying home from Germany to Jamaica for his final days, Marley became ill, and landed in Miami for immediate medical attention. He died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami, Florida on the morning of May 11, 1981 at the age of 36. His final words to his son Ziggy were "Money can't buy life".Marley received a state funeral in Jamaica, which combined elements of Ethiopian Orthodoxy and Rastafari. He was buried in a crypt near his birthplace with his Gibson Les Paul, a soccer ball, a marijuana bud, a ring that he wore everyday that was given to him by the Prince Asfa Wossen of Ethiopia (eldest son of H.I.M), and a Bible. A month before his death, he was awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit.

Bob Marley's music has continuously grown in popularity in the years since his death, providing a stream of revenue for his estate and affording him a mythical status in 20th century music history. He remains enormously popular and well-known all over the world, particularly so in Africa. Marley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Time magazine chose Bob Marley & The Wailers' Exodus as the greatest album of the 20th century.

In 2001, the same year that Marley won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; a feature-length documentary about his life by Jeremy Marre Rebel Music was nominated for the Best Long Form Music Video documentary at the Grammies. It won various other awards. With contributions from Rita, the Wailers, and Marley's lovers and children, it also tells much of the story in his own words.

In Summer 2006, the City of New York renamed a portion of Church Avenue from Ramsen Avenue to East 98th Street in the East Flatbush Section of Brooklyn Bob Marley Blvd.

Rastafari movement

Rasta, or the Rastafari movement, is a religion and philosophy that accepts Haile Selassie I, the former (and last) emperor of Ethiopia, as Jah (the Rasta name for God incarnate, from a shortened form of Jehovah found in Psalms 68:4 in the King James Version of the Bible), and part of the Holy Trinity as the messiah promised in the Bible to return. The name Rastafari comes from Ras (Duke or Chief) Tafari Makonnen, the pre-coronation name of Haile Selassie I. The movement emerged in Jamaica among working-class and peasant black people in the early 1930s, arising from an interpretation of Biblical prophecy partly based on Selassie's status as the only African monarch of a fully independent state, and his titles of King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Conquering Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5). Other factors leading to its rise include the sacred use of marijuana, and various Afrocentric social and political aspirations, such as the teachings of Jamaican publicist and organiser Marcus Garvey (also often regarded as a prophet), whose political and cultural vision helped inspire a new world view. The movement is called Rastafarianism by some non-Rastas although some Rastas themselves regard that term as improper and offensive.

The Rastafari movement has spread throughout much of the world, largely through interest generated by reggae music—most notably, that of Jamaican-born singer/songwriter Bob Marley. By 2000, there were more than one million Rastafari faithful worldwide. About five to ten percent of Jamaicans identify themselves as Rastafari. Many Rastafari follow an ital diet which essentially means living by the dietary Laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy in the Old Testament, or vegetarian or vegan by modern standards.

The Wailers

In 1963, Bob Marley, Bunny Livingston, Peter McIntosh, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, and Cherry Smith formed a ska and rocksteady group, calling themselves "The Teenagers". They later changed their name to "The Wailing Rudeboys", then to "The Wailing Wailers", and finally to "The Wailers". By 1966, Braithwaite, Kelso, and Smith had left The Wailers, leaving the core trio of Marley, Livingston, and McIntosh.

Marley took on the role of leader, singer, and main songwriter. Much of The Wailers' early work, including their first single Simmer Down, was produced by Coxsone Dodd at Studio One. Simmer Down topped Jamaican Charts in 1964 and established The Wailers as one of the hottest groups in the country. They followed up with songs such as "Soul Rebel" and "400 Years".

In 1966, Marley married Rita Anderson, and moved near his mother's residence in Wilmington, Delaware for a few months. Upon returning to Jamaica, Marley became a member of the Rastafari movement, and started to wear his trademark dreadlocks. After a conflict with Dodd, Marley and his band teamed up with Lee "Scratch" Perry and his studio band, The Upsetters. Although the alliance lasted less than a year, they recorded what many consider The Wailers' finest work. Marley and Perry split after a dispute regarding the assignment of recording rights, but they would remain friends and work together again.

Between 1968 and 1972, Bob and Rita Marley, Peter McIntosh and Bunny Livingston recut some old tracks with JAD Records in Kingston and London in an attempt to commercialize The Wailers' sound. Livingston later asserted that these songs "should never be released on an album... they were just demos for record companies to listen to".


The Wailers' first album, Catch A Fire, was released worldwide in 1973, and sold well. It was followed a year later by Burnin', which included the songs "Get Up, Stand Up" and "I Shot The Sheriff". Eric Clapton made a hit cover of "I Shot the Sheriff" in 1974, raising Marley's international profile.

The Wailers broke up in 1974 with each of the three main members going on to pursue solo careers. The reason for the breakup is shrouded mystery; some believe that there were disagreements amongst Livingston, McIntosh, and Marley concerning performances, while others claim that Livingston and McIntosh simply preferred solo work. McIntosh began recording under the name Peter Tosh, and Livingston continued on as Bunny Wailer.


Bob Marley & The Wailers
Despite the breakup, Marley continued recording as "Bob Marley & The Wailers". His new backing band included brothers Carlton and Aston "Family Man" Barrett on drums and bass respectively, Junior Marvin and Al Anderson on lead guitar, Tyrone Downie and Earl "Wya" Lindo on keyboards, and Alvin "Seeco" Patterson on percussion. The "I Threes", consisting of Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffiths, and Marley's wife, Rita, performed backup vocals.

In 1975, Marley had his international breakthrough with his first hit outside Jamaica, "No Woman, No Cry" from the Natty Dread album. This was followed by his breakthrough album in the US, Rastaman Vibration (1976), which spent four weeks on the Billboard charts Top Ten.

In December 1976, two days before "Smile Jamaica", a free concert organized by Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley in an attempt to ease tension between two warring political groups, Marley, his wife, and manager Don Taylor were wounded in an assault by unknown gunmen inside Marley's home. Taylor and Marley's wife sustained serious injuries, but later made full recoveries. Bob Marley received only minor injuries in the chest and arm. The shooting was thought to have been politically motivated, as many felt the concert was really a support rally for Manley. Nonetheless, the concert proceeded, and an injured Marley performed as scheduled.


Marley left Jamaica at the end of 1976 for England, where he recorded his Exodus and Kaya albums. Exodus stayed on the British album charts for 56 consecutive weeks. It included four UK hit singles: "Exodus", "Waiting In Vain", "Jamming", and also "One Love", a rendition of Curtis Mayfield's hit, "People Get Ready". It was here that he was arrested and received a conviction for possession of a small quantity of cannabis while travelling in London.

One Love Peace Concert
In 1978, Marley performed at another political concert in Jamaica, the One Love Peace Concert, again in an effort to calm warring parties. Near the end of the performance, by Marley's request, Manley and his political rival, Edward Seaga, joined each other on stage and shook hands.

Survival, a defiant and politically charged album, was released in 1979. Tracks such as "Zimbabwe", "Africa Unite", "Wake Up and Live", and "Survival" reflected Marley's support for the struggles of Africans. In early 1980, he was invited to perform at the April 17 celebration of Zimbabwe's Independence Day.

Uprising (1980) was Bob Marley's final studio album, and is one of his most religious productions, including "Redemption Song" and "Forever Loving Jah". It was in "Redemption Song" that Marley sang the famous lyric,

“ Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds... ”

Confrontation, released posthumously in 1983, contained unreleased material recorded during Marley's lifetime, including the hit "Buffalo Soldier" and new mixes of singles previously only available in Jamaica.