Quotessence
Home / Authors / Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa Quotes

Musician

Filter quotes by topic

AllPeopleIfsWantPositive AtheismThinkingAtheismKnowsMusicLittlesWritingFunnyPoliticsUseChildrenDrugGivingGuitarGuyLooksMusic Is

Famous Frank Zappa Quotes

“I don't think there's a problem. First of all, I don't think music turns people into social liabilities. Because you hear a lyric - there's no medical proof that a person hearing a lyric is going to act out the lyric. There's also no medical proof that if you hear any collection of vowels and consonants, that the hearing of that collection is going to send you to Hell.”

PeopleIfsThinkingFirstsPersonsProblemTurnsSocialHellAtheismHearingPositive AtheismProofMedicalCollectionsLiabilityVowelsConsonants
Author:Frank Zappa
Create image

“The establishment of a rating system, voluntary or otherwise, opens the door to an endless parade of moral quality control programs based on things certain Christians do not like. What if the next bunch of Washington wives demands a large yellow J on all material written or performed by Jews, in order to save helpless children from exposure to concealed Zionist doctrine?”

IfsChildrenChristianCertainOrderNextQualityMoralWifeWrittenDoorsAtheismMaterialsDemandProgramJewPositive AtheismEndlessBunchDoctrineWhat IfYellowEstablishmentHelplessExposureConcealedRatingParadesZionistQuality Control
Book:Real Frank Zappa Book
Create image

“All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff...Basically what people want to hear is: I love you, you love me, the leaves turn brown, they fell off the trees, the wind is blowing, it got cold, you went away, my heart broke, you came back, and my heart was okay...Modern music is people who can't think signing artists who can't write songs to make records for people who can't hear. Most people wouldn't know good music if it came up and bit them on the ass...If lyrics make people do things, how come we don't love each other?”

PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsWantWritingHeartArtistSongTurnsStuffBitsRecordsWrittenTreeModernLove YouWindColdMy HeartMusic IsOkayAssBrokeBrownLove Each OtherSigningWigsHeart BrokeBlowing ItModern Music
Author:Frank Zappa
Create image

“Just because somebody hears something you say, or reads something that you write, doesn't mean you've reached them. With reading comprehension being what it is in the U. S., you can safely toss that one out the window. If you want to judge by the listening habits of people who buy records, the first thing they do is put it on and talk over it.”

PeopleIfsWantWritingFirstsMeanReadingRecordsJudgingListeningHabitWindowOver ItComprehensionToss
Author:Frank Zappa
Create image

“People will always have the desire to make rock and roll records, and they'll always have the desire to sell rock and roll records. Most of the people making these records do it because it is a business, and if someone says, "You can't do this", they won't complain. They'll just keep making records, but they'll get blander and blander. There'll still be rock and roll, but compared to what it really could be or ought to be, I don't think it'll be all that terrific.”

PeopleIfsThinkingStillsDesireRecordsRocksOughtSellsComplainingRock And RollTerrific
Author:Frank Zappa
Create image

“Well the thing is that under the [Ronald] Reagan administration, excesses have occurred in terms of over regulating certain types of behavior, and excesses have occurred in the opposite direction, in de-regulating other types of behavior. As a matter of fact, if they continue to regulate the airlines, we might have safer skies, and if they slack off on the radio, we might have better radio. If they just use it as a threat, eventually there's going to be another test case like the one that the 7 dirty words ruling came out of, and basically, its extortion.”

IfsWellsMatterFactsUseMightCertainTermCasesSkyTypeBehaviorTestsOppositesThreatRadioAdministrationDirtyExcessRulingAirlineMatter Of FactDirty WordsExtortion
Author:Frank Zappa
Create image

“I mean, let's look at it in the other way. If they claim that words have this mysterious power over people, well, 99 percent of on the songs on the radio deal with the topic of love and we use the term loosely. So, kids have heard love, love, love, love ... the minute they turn on the radio. Do you see any kids doing love? I see them doing crack ... but not love. So, it's bullshit!”

PeopleIfsWayWellsLooksMeanUseKidsSongTurnsTermDealsHeardMinutesPercentClaimsRadioMysteriousCracksBullshitTopicsTurn-on
Author:Frank Zappa
Create image

“The thing about drugs is this ... the Libertarians kind of have the right idea on this: Basically, their theory is that you own your own body, and the government should get out of your face. But, you also do not have the right to harm other people or to impinge on their rights or space. So, let's apply that to drugs . If you want to get wrecked, and you could afford it, and you have a place to do it where the results of your behavior can't harm another person, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be allowed to do it.”

PeopleIfsWantShouldKindPersonsIdeasReasonBodyGovernmentFacesSpaceResultsRightsTheoryDrugBehaviorHarmLibertarianReason WhyYour FaceRight Ideas
Author:Frank Zappa
Create image

“The minute you use the drugs, and you do something that interferes with the life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness of the guy next door, you're a criminal, and you ought to be punished for that especially if you're in a position where your actions could affect large numbers of people. Being a doctor, a legislator, a judge, an airline pilot, where somebody's life depends on you.”

PeopleIfsUseActionGuyNextNumbersLibertyDoorsMinutesPositionJudgingDependsOughtDrugDoctorsCriminalsPursuitPilotsInterferePursuit Of HappinessAirlineLarge NumbersLegislatorsLife Liberty And The Pursuit Of HappinessAirline Pilots
Author:Frank Zappa
Create image

“There's a price you pay for drinking too much, for eating too much sugar, smoking too much marijuana, using too much cocaine, or even drinking too much water. All those things can mess you up, especially, drinking too much L.A. water ... or Love Canal for that matter. But, if people had a better idea of what moderation is really all about, then some of these problems would ... If you use too much of something, your body's just gonna go the "Huh? ... Duh!"”

PeopleIfsIdeasMatterUseProblemBodyWaterPayToo MuchEatingDrinkingYour BodyMessSmokingSugarMarijuanaModerationCocaineCanalsDuhDrinking Too Much
Author:Frank Zappa
Create image

“You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.”

IfsNeedsKindRealCountryHelpingFunnyPoliticalTeamFootballDrinkWeaponsHumorousDrinkingWittyAlcoholNuclearDrunkBeerHopsNuclear WeaponsAlcoholismDrankWhiskeyAirlineProhibitionDrinking AlcoholPubsFootball TeamDrinkersBoozeFunny DrinkingBeer DrinkingDrinking BeerGreat DrinkingFunny AlcoholAlcohol DrinkingDrinking FunnyGreat AlcoholBrewingFunny BeerBrewing BeerDrinking WhiskeyFunny Beer DrinkingGreat BeerWhiskey DrinkingBeer DrinkersCraft BeerLiquor FunnyBeer LoveCocktail DrinksBrewersBeer And WineDon't Drink AlcoholBeer And LoveIrish BeerShort BeerShort DrinkingCollege DrinkingDrunk ManFunny BarDrinking With Friends
Book:Real Frank Zappa Book
Create image

“Drop out of school before your mind rots from exposure to our mediocre educational system. Forget about the Senior Prom and go to the library and educate yourself if you've got any guts. Some of you like Pep rallies and plastic robots who tell you what to read.”

IfsMindMotivationalSchoolForgetLearningLibraryEducationalGutsEducatePlasticSeniorMediocreRobotsExposureSelf EducationEducational SystemPromUnschoolingPepEducating YourselfPep RallySenior Prom
Author:Frank Zappa
Create image

“The Ultimate Rule ought to be: 'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchin'; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it's shitty. The more your musical experience, the easier it is to define for yourself what you like and what you don't like. American radio listeners, raised on a diet of _____ (fill in the blank), have experienced a musical universe so small they cannot begin to know what they like.”

IfsKnowsUniverseSoundOughtEasierUltimateRaisedMusicalRadioDietsBlankListenersMusical ExperienceFill In The Blank
Author:Frank Zappa
Create image

“[Lighting a cigarette] Well, I'm not here to impinge on anybody else's lifestyle. If I'm in a place where I know I'm going to harm somebody's health or somebody asks me to please not smoke, I just go outside and smoke. But I do resent the way the nonsmoking mentality has been imposed on the smoking minority. Because, first of all, in a democracy, minorities do have rights. And, second, the whole pitch about smoking has gone from being a health issue to a moral issue, and when they reduce something to a moral issue, it has no place in any kind of legislation, as far as I'm concerned.”

IfsKnowsWayFirstsWellsKindHas BeensWholeAsksMoralGoneDemocracyIssuesRightsPleaseConcernedHarmLifestyleSmokeAsk MeSmokingMinoritiesMentalityCigaretteLegislationLightingResentMoral IssuesHealth Issues
Author:Frank Zappa
Create image

“lf you’re going to deal with reality, you’re going to have to make one big discovery: Reality is something that belongs to you as an individual. If you wanna grow up, which most people don’t, the thing to do is take responsibility for your own reality and deal with it on your own terms. Don’t expect that because you pay some money to somebody else or take a pledge or join a club or run down the street or wear a special bunch of clothes or play a certain sport or even drink Perrier water, it’s going to take care of everything for you.”

PeopleIfsPlayBigsRealityCareRunningCertainIndividualGrowsSportsTermWaterDealsPayResponsibilityGrowing UpStreetsSpecialDrinkClothesDiscoveryClubsTake CareBunchThings To DoTaking ResponsibilityPledge
Author:Frank Zappa
Create image

“If you want to get together in any exclusive situation and have people love you, fine - but to hang all this desperate sociology on the idea of The Cloud-Guy who has The Big Book, who knows if you've been bad or good - and CARES about any of it - to hang it all on that, folks, is the chimpanzee part of the brain working.”

PeopleIfsKnowsWantBookIdeasBigsCareTogetherGuyBrainSituationLove YouFineAtheistCloudsFolksDesperateSociologyExclusiveGet TogetherChimpanzeesBig Book
Book:Real Frank Zappa Book
Create image

“As long as you're just smart enough to do a job and just dumb enough to swallow what they feed you, you're gonna be alright. But if you go beyond that then you're gonna have these grave doubts that give you stomach problems, headachesmake you want to go out and do something else. So, I believe that schools mechanically and very specifically try and breed out any hint of creative thought in the kids that are coming out.”

IfsWantGivingTryingBelieveLongEnoughProblemKidsSchoolJobsI BelieveCreativeDoubtSmartGravesDumbStomachComing OutHintsAlrightCreative Thought
Author:Frank Zappa
Create image