Yip Harburg Quotes

• Words make you think a thought.
  Music makes you feel a feeling.
  A song makes you feel a thought.

  Yip Harburg

  Music, Dance, Wisdom

  52 Copy quote

• They who meet on an April night are forever lost in love, if there's moonlight all about and there's no moon above.

  Yip Harburg

  Valentines Day, Lost Love, Moon

  51 Copy quote

• My whole family has been having trouble with immigrants ever since we came to this country.

  Yip Harburg

  Country, Immigration, Trouble

  20 Copy quote

• This we learn from Watergate that almost any creep'll be glad to help the Government overthrow the people.

  Yip Harburg

  Government, People, Helping

  24 Copy quote

• When the melody touches your heart emotionally and the words hit your brain intellectually, more than likely you'll find you'll have an excellent song to sing.

  Yip Harburg

  Song, Heart, Brain

  7 Copy quote

• Music gives 'wings' to words.

  Yip Harburg

  Wings, Giving

  18 Copy quote

• Oh, innocent victims of Cupid, remember this terse little verse: To let a fool kiss you is stupid. To let a kiss fool you is worse.

  Yip Harburg

  Valentines Day, Stupid, Kissing

  78 Copy quote

• No matter how high or great the throne, What sits on it is the same as your own.

  Yip Harburg

  Thrones, Matter

  "The Americans". Book by David Frost, 1970.

  15 Copy quote

• All the heroes of tomorrow are the heretics of today.

  Yip Harburg

  Hero, Today, Tomorrow

  "A Tribute to Yip Harburg: The Man Who Put the Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz". "Democracy Now!" with Amy Goodman, www.democracynow.org. November 25, 2004.

  11 Copy quote

• My heart wants roots
  My mind wants wings.
  I cannot bear
  Their bickerings.

  Yip Harburg

  Heart, Wings, Roots

  18 Copy quote

• I am a rebel by birth... I contest anything that is unjust, that causes suffering in humanity. My feelings about that are so strong, I don't think I could live with myself if I weren't honest.

  Yip Harburg

  Strong, Thinking, Feelings

  "Yip Harburg: Secular Songwriter" by Dan Barker in "Freethought Today", Volume, 22, No. 3, April 2005.

  15 Copy quote

• Songs are the pulse of a nation's heart. A fever chart of its health.

  Yip Harburg

  Song, Heart, Pulse

  9 Copy quote

• I am one of the last of a small tribe of troubadours, who still believe that life is a beautiful and exciting journey with a purpose and grace which are well worth singing about.

  Yip Harburg

  Beautiful, Believe, Journey

  "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Scott Jacobs, The Week Behind, September 23, 2009.

  55 Copy quote

• The greatest romance in the life of a lyricist is when the right word meets the right note; often, however, a Park Avenue phrase elopes with a Bleecker Street chord, resulting in a shotgun wedding and a quickie divorce.

  Yip Harburg

  Divorce, Romance, Phrases

  14 Copy quote

• The world would be a safer place, If someone had a plan, Before exploring outer space, To find the inner man.

  Yip Harburg

  Men, Space, Would Be

  14 Copy quote

• If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why oh why can't I?

  Yip Harburg

  Rainbow, Flying, Littles

  Song: Over the Rainbow

  86 Copy quote

• Did God who gave us flowers and trees, Also provide the allergies?

  Yip Harburg

  Flower, Health, Tree

  5 Copy quote

• The Lord made Adam, the Lord made Eve, he made 'em both a little bit naive.

  Yip Harburg

  Ems, Littles, Lord

  "Finian's Rainbow (The Begat)". Book by Yip Harburg and Fred Saidy, 1947.

  10 Copy quote

• Ira [Gershwin] was the shyest, most diffident boy we had ever known. In a class of lower east side rapscallions, his soft-spoken gentleness and low-keyed personality made him a lovable incongruity. He spoke in murmurs, hiding behind a pair of steel-rimmed glasses..Ira had a kid brother who wore high stiff collars, shirts with cuffs and went out with girls.

  Yip Harburg

  Girl, Brother, Kids

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

  9 Copy quote

• A Russian child asked his mother : "does God know we don't believe in Him?"

  Yip Harburg

  Mother, Children, Believe

  4 Copy quote

• Lives of great men all remind us greatness takes no easy way.

  Yip Harburg

  Greatness, Men, Way

  "A Tribute to Yip Harburg: The Man Who Put the Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz". "Democracy Now!" with Amy Goodman, www.democracynow.org. November 25, 2004.

  4 Copy quote

• No matter how much I prove and prod, I cannot quite believe in God; But oh, I hope to God that He, Unswervingly believes in me.

  Yip Harburg

  God, Believe, Matter

  "Rhymes for the Irreverent (Agnostic)". Book by Yip Harburg, 1965.

  6 Copy quote

• When I'm not near the girl I love,
  I love the girl I'm near.

  Yip Harburg

  Life, Girl, Cheating

  Title of song (1947)

  6 Copy quote

• Follow the yellow brick road.

  Yip Harburg

  Yellow, Bricks, Brick Roads

  "We're Off to See the Wizard (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)" (song) (1939)

  57 Copy quote

• Ding-dong, the wicked witch is dead.

  Yip Harburg

  Wicked, Witch, Wizard Of Oz Wizard

  "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead!" (song) (1939)

  15 Copy quote

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