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Quote by Bruce Cockburn

“We all grow up with anger. It's part of the human condition. But what do you do with that? It seems obvious to me that you've got to use it for something, but you have to separate it from your ego.”

Quote by Bruce Cockburn

Author

Bruce Cockburn, a renowned Canadian guitarist, was born on May 27, 1945. His musical career spans over half a century, known for his unique guitar playing style and profound lyrical content. Cockburn's music blends folk, rock, blues, and world music elements, often addressing themes of social justice, environmental protection, and human spirit. more

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“Once you tie anger and ego together then you're a monster, at least a latent one. So you have to be able to separate those things before you are going to be able to do anything useful with your anger.”

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“Anger is energy, and you've got to find a place to put it that works for you.”

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“Music itself isn't enough to completely wear down my stash of anger. And I don't have all that much more to be angry about than anyone else. It's not like I was abused as a kid or anything. I had a pretty comfortable childhood with parents who took good care of me. But resentment exists, and some of it goes into the music. Some of it goes into physical activity.”

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“The people who have impressed me most - and the closest I've come to having heroes - are the people who have devoted their lives to making things better for others. These are people whose names you never hear, people who work for Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam, and other humanitarian groups. They're just out there in the world, doing stuff.”

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“Sometimes I catch myself doing something that I've already done. The more I've done, the more that's likely to happen. Then I just throw it away. I wait until I've got the right way of getting a thing done, which means my songwriting proceeds at a very slow pace. But it's the only way I can really work.”

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“There are so many people I love in the United States, and I've had such great adventures in this country and have been so well received by people here.”

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“There's so many ways in which Canada and America are inextricably connected politically, economically, socially. There's no stepping away. But at the same time, we don't have a say. Canada is a different country. Sometimes I think of it as Finland in the Soviet era. We're totally free, but we're totally free to agree, basically. If we disagree too heartily or over too sensitive an issue, then we pay a price for that.”

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“Going to places like Honduras, Nicaragua, and various African countries you get to see very clearly what the cause and effect is. We finance the obnoxious elites in those countries and they exploit their people so we don't have to say that we're doing the exploiting but nevertheless we are benefiting from it.”

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“I played saxophone and trumpet. Pretty nerdy.”

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“Resisting the powers that be, we are keeping things from getting worse than they otherwise might be. And that effort is very much worthwhile.”

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