Utah Phillips (1935-2008) was an American folk singer, labor organizer, and social activist known for his passionate advocacy for workers’ rights. His unique blend of storytelling and music highlighted the struggles of the working class and the history of labor movements. With albums like “We Have Fed You All for a Thousand Years” (2000), Phillips used his art to raise awareness about social and political issues. Beyond his musical career, he was actively involved in various causes, including anti-war efforts and environmental conservation. Utah Phillips’ contributions to folk music and social activism have left a lasting impact, and he is remembered for his commitment to justice and equality.
Utah Phillips Quotes
1. “The Earth is not dying-it is being killed. And the people who are killing it have names and addresses.”
— Utah Phillips
2. “The degree to which you resist is the degree to which you are free.”
— Utah Phillips
3. “I’m here to change the world, and if I am not, I am probably wasting my time.”
— Utah Phillips
4. “Sing your song Dance your dance Tell your story I will Listen and remember.”
— Utah Phillips
5. “Every good educator knows that true teaching is to teach kids how to ask the right questions.”
— Utah Phillips
6. “Cause the profit system follows the path of least resistance and following the path of least resistance is what makes the river crooked. Hmmmm.”
— Utah Phillips
7. “Children, be worried when they call you America’s most valuable natural resource. Have you seen what they’ve done to the other natural resources?”
— Utah Phillips
8. “The state can’t give you freedom, and the state can’t take it away. You’re born with it, like your eyes, like your ears. Freedom is something you assume, then you wait for someone to try to take it away. The degree to which you resist is the degree to which you are free…”
— Utah Phillips
9. “The most American thing you can do is to stifle dissent.”
— Utah Phillips
10. “But if it’s true that the only true life I had was the life of my brain, what sense does it make to hand that brain to somebody for eight hours a day for their particular use on the presumption that, at the end of the day, they will give it back in an unmutilated condition? Fat chance!”
— Utah Phillips
11. “Time is an enormous, long river, and I’m standing in it, just as you’re standing in it. My elders are the tributaries, and everything they thought and every struggle they went through and everything they gave their lives to, and every song they created, and every poem that they laid down flows down to me – and if I take the time to ask, and if I take the time to see, and if I take the time to reach out, I can build that bridge between my world and theirs. I can reach down into that river and take out what I need to get through this world.”
— Utah Phillips
12. “Chris Chandler is the best performance poet I have ever seen.”
— Utah Phillips
13. “Folk music isn’t owned by anybody. It is owned by everybody, like the national parks, the postal system, and the school system. It’s our common property. There is nobody’s name on it. Nobody can make money on it. It’s not copywritten.”
— Utah Phillips
14. “But they lived those extraordinary lives that can never be lived again. And in the living of them, they gave me a history that is more profound, more beautiful, more powerful, more passionate, and ultimately more useful, than the best damn history book I ever read.”
— Utah Phillips
