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Cat Stevens

83 quotes

“Her clothes are made of rainbows And twenty thousand tears Shine through the spaces Of her golden ochre hair”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sing a song of love and truth We’ll soon remember if you do When all things were tall And our friends were small And the world was new”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh I can’t keep it in; I can’t keep it in, I’ve gotta let it out I’ve got to show the world; world’s got to see, See all the love; love that’s in me”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well I rode a while, for a mile or so Down the road to the 18th Avenue And the people I saw were the people I know And they all came down to take a view”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“O caritas, O caritas nobis semper sit amor mos perituri mortem salutamus — ah, ah sola resurgit vita”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Give me time forever here in my time”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Underneath her kiss I was so unguarded Every bottle’s empty now and all those dreams are gone Ah, but the song carries on … so holy”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All those days are frozen now and all those scars are gone Ah, but the song carries on … so holy”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Where’s it leading to, freedom at what cost? People needing more and more and it’s all getting lost”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yesterday I was on the edge Hoping everything was going to work itself out A good honest man doing the work of God Trying to make things better for Him A lover of life in a school for fools Trying to find another way to survive”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I said, ‘Put back your heart, and sing, sing While you know you’re still living.’ Sing, sing, sing, while you know there’s still – New Music, new Music, new Music Sweet Music can lighten us Can brighten the world – can save us”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Oh very young, What will you leave us this time? There’ll never be a better chance to change your mind. And if you want this world to see better days, Will you carry the words of love with you? Will you ride the great white bird into heaven? And though you want them to last forever, You know they never will — you know they never will. And the goodbye makes the journey harder still.”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sun is the reason And the world it will bloom ‘Cause sun lights the sky And the sun lights the moon”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They crossed the wood and hanged him A long time ago They still misunderstand him Those who don’t know And in the evening his love will lead the blind In every secret corner there in your mind”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I love, I love, I’m ready to love — yes”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And if my mind breaks up In all so many ways I know the meaning of The words, “I love you”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’ve, I’ve had it enough All those lonely rooms And blank faces Had it enough And I want you, I want you no more”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Come the morning I’ll be far from here Slowly rising in another sphere”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Dark and empty was the place to which I’d come Cold and silent was the house my name was on Nine rooms — and a tomb in every one”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Novim's Nightmare”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This stranger had the key To any door he wished — with his eyes, I say What kind of majiks, of majiks? What kind of man — Can make me turn and see the way I really am?”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One is the ever kindling star King of the immortal spark In heaven’s eye”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Don’t you remember the days Of the old schoolyard When we had imaginings and we had All kinds of things and we laughed And needed love … yes, I do Oh and I remember you”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I never wanted to be a star, I never wanted to travel far I only wanted a little bit of love So I could put a little love in my heart”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well, if you want to sing out, sing out, And if you want to be free, be free. 'Cause there's a million things to be, You know that there are.”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out, originally recorded for the 1971 film Harold and Maude
“I'm very sad that this seems to be the No. 1 question people want to discuss. I had nothing to do with the issue other than what the media created. I was innocently drawn into the whole controversy. So, after many years, I'm glad at least now that I have been given the opportunity to explain to the public and fans my side of the story in my own words. At a lecture, back in 1989, I was asked a question about blasphemy according to Islamic Law, I simply repeated the legal view according to my limited knowledge of the Scriptural texts, based directly on historical commentaries of the Qur'an. The next day the newspaper headlines read, "Cat Says, Kill Rushdie." I was abhorred, but what could I do? I was a new Muslim. If you ask a Bible student to quote the legal punishment of a person who commits blasphemy in the Bible, he would be dishonest if he didn't mention Leviticus 24:16.”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) first seen 2000 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Cat Stevens Breaks His Silence," by Andrew Dansby in Rolling Stone (14 June 2000); Leviticus 24:16 reads : "And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congre…
“I wish to express my heartfelt horror at the indiscriminate terrorist attacks committed against innocent people of the United States yesterday. While it is still not clear who carried out the attacks, it must be stated that no right thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action: the Qur'an equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity. We pray for the families of all those who lost their lives in this unthinkable act of violence as well as all those injured; I hope to reflect the feelings of all Muslims and people around the world whose sympathies go out to the victims at this sorrowful moment.”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement on his website (12 September 2001), quoted in "Cat Stevens Condemns Attack" in Rolling Stone (17 September 2001)
“We understand the anger, the anguish and suffering which this act of international terrorism has created amongst people. What we are worried about is the impact of the wrong kind of response to it. … We believe that the civilised world is a multicultural, multi-religious world. That is the type of message we want to get across. … I think there are many who are Muslims and non-Muslims, who are not warmongers but peace makers and want this world to be a better place. We believed the unison of the voices of so many people standing together against international terrorism is something to be valued and something to be built upon.”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attacks 'no excuse for racist violence'" in BBC News (22 September 2001)
“I wanted a break. I had been on the road more or less since I was 18, you know? And I hadn't known any other life, other than, you know, hotel rooms and concerts and records and studios and press conferences. … and to me, here was a chance to jump off that kind of wagon and see life for real. You know, actually my last album was called Back to Earth. So that was the meaning of it. I wanted to join the human race again. I didn't want to be a star. I didn't want to continue with that thing, because so much illusion and non-reality is connected to it. I wanted to be real. And so I — I kind of — I found an opportunity. And the actual point about music was — the imam who I met and who I first embraced Islam with in London's Central Mosque, he actually told me to continue making records.”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the abandonment of his music career after converting to Islam, on |Larry King Live (7 October 2004)
“A big turning point happened when my son brought back a guitar into the house — You know, 'cause I'd given all those guitars away to charity — way back in 1979 and hadn't really touched the instrument, you know, for like two decades. … So then one day … when everybody's asleep and nobody's watching, I pick it up — and lo and behold, I still know where to put my fingers and out comes this music. I said, "Maybe I've got another job to do." And in this time and period it's probably the best thing I can do because lecturing, politics, God, I've got nothing to do with that. I want to just get heart-to-heart, make sure people understand some of the real subtle beauties of what I've discovered.”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On getting back into producing new music, interviewed on "Yusuf Islam's New Album" at CBS News (12 August 2007)
“Here's a chance, I think, for us to kind of remind ourselves, of those things we all commonly enjoy and love and share, try to get back together. You know, singing out for a more peaceful world today, I think, can only do good. … I do believe that … a lot of Muslims have yet to learn, you know, the incredible great history and contribution of Islamic civilization — and its become very, if you like, in some way puritanical — that puritanical approach will become narrower and narrower and even become more fragmented. Its that vast middle ground where people actually live, you know, that we have to reclaim; and in that area, everybody should be able to live together. And I don't think that God sent us prophets and books to fight about these books and these prophets. But they were telling us, actually, how to live together. If we ignore those teachings — whichever faith you belong, you profess, then I think we'll be finding ourselves in an even deeper mess.”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview on CBS News Sunday Morning (30 November 2006)
“I never called for the death of Salman Rushdie; nor backed the Fatwa issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini — and still don’t. The book itself destroyed the harmony between peoples and created an unnecessary international crisis. When asked about my opinion regarding blasphemy, I could not tell a lie and confirmed that — like both the Torah and the Gospel — the Qur’an considers it, without repentance, as a capital offense. The Bible is full of similar harsh laws if you’re looking for them. However, the application of such Biblical and Qur’anic injunctions is not to be outside of due process of law, in a place or land where such law is accepted and applied by the society as a whole.”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In 1989, during the heat and height of the Satanic Verses controversy, I was silly enough to accept appearing on a program called Hypotheticals which posed imaginary scenarios by a well-versed (what if…?) barrister, Geoffrey Robertson QC. I foolishly made light of certain provocative questions. When asked what I’d do if Salman Rushdie entered a restaurant in which I was eating, I said, “I would probably call up Ayatollah Khomeini”; and, rather than go to a demonstration to burn an effigy of the author, I jokingly said I would have preferred that it'd be the “real thing”. Criticize me for my bad taste, in hindsight, I agree. But these comments were part of a well-known British national trait; a touch of dry humor on my part. Just watch British comedy programs like "Have I Got News For You" or “Extras”, they are full of occasionally grotesque and sardonic jokes if you want them! … Certainly I regret giving those sorts of responses now. However, it must be noted that the final edit of the program was made to look extremely serious; hardly any laughs were left in and much common sense was savagely cut out. Most of the Muslim participants in the program wrote in and complained about the narrow and selective use of their comments, surreptitiously selected out of the 3-hour long recording of the debate. But the edit was not in our hands. Balanced arguments were cut out and the most sensational quotes, preserved.”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source