93 Quotes by Greil Marcus

It is a sure sign that a culture has reached a dead end when it is no longer intrigued by its myths.

We make the oldest stories new when we succeed, and we are trapped by the old stories when we fail

Patriotism in America, as I understand it, is a matter of suffering, when the country fails to live up to its promises, or actively betrays them.

I had tremendous fun fooling around with the way people talked about songs, just the way that became another way of understanding the world.

You're going to react to a painting in a way that the painting demands you react.

I learned that when something just has to be said to move the discussion along, or broaden it or deepen it, if I can just keep my mouth shut for five minutes a student will say it. So for me a lot of teaching is about keeping my mouth shut.

It may be that the most interesting American struggle is the struggle to set oneself free from the limits one is born to, and then to learn something of the value of those limits

Bob Dylan continues to release odd and unsettling records, and to do odd and unsettling things on stage. So the term 'still' seems meaningless to me. But the real answer is simple: I listen to Bob Dylan for pleasure more than I listen to anyone else for pleasure.

I never find myself even catching lyrics until something in the sound has taken me captive. Thinking about anything else is just the pleasurable byproduct of wow.