Ziggy Marley Quotations

If it is, it is, If it's not, it's not.

Reggae music is not an easy music to like when it comes to the power in society. 'Cause it talks about changing society. You won't find it readily accepted,

When people come to Jamaica, we don't want them to think about the problems of Jamaica. So let them come be in their paradise.

I don't like to do things for any other reason than it happens spontaneously or there's something that makes it happen naturally. I don't like putting down too many plans and trying to do a strategy to get a certain response or a certain effect.

The solution for mankind is of a spiritual nature. It is not a political or religious solution. It's the ability to love each other. That's the only solution I see.

I'm a big reader. My kids love reading, and I think it's important, not just for development but for bonding. You start reading to kids before they can even understand what you're saying to them, so I look at it as a fundamental tool for connection.

The sun is always shining. We have oxygen, trees, birds. There's so much good things on Earth, still. We haven't destroyed everything.

Love is cheering and sharing and compassion and giving and receiving. Love is an action thing more than a word thing, that brings comfort or joy or relief to anyone or anything.

Everyone will someday be judged for what they do, and Jah is the only judge.

My dream is to live a good life and be loving, be close to God and be a good human being and bring peace to people.

Reggae has a philosophy, you know? It's not just entertainment. There's an idea behind it, a way of life behind the music, which is a positive way of life, which is a progressive way of life for better people.

My whole family is spiritual. My grandmother, grand aunt, cousins, they're all preachers and pastors. Spirituality is a part of my family, from generations ago.

I don't have to wait to realize the good old days.

Love is a positive effect. Love can never have a negative effect, only a positive effect.

Old music used to mean something. There is none of that today.

Doing something that is productive is a great way to alleviate emotional stress. Get your mind doing something that is productive.

Alcohol, tobacco, and pharmaceutical drugs are legal, but they can hurt a lot of people.

If food is labeled, some people might choose to eat stuff that's genetically modified. They might decide they love it. But give us a choice.

I am not reggae, I am me. I am bigger than the limits that are put on me. It all has to do with the individual journey.

No matter the bad things that happened in past time, let's try to live the best we can now.

I was in my yard and thought that the tree was a living being. We take trees for granted. We don't believe they are as much alive as we are.

The roots of my music start from the ghetto.

The most important thing my father taught me is that every man has to stand up for his rights.

Each father wants their sons to be just like them, really.

I think parents today are looking for meaningful things for their kid. It's about feeding them something with meaning.

I'm digging Batman. I'm digging that balance, that duality. He's always on the edge and trying to balance himself within the rules of what's lawful and justice, and being Bruce Wayne and being Batman.

I was born by myself but carry the spirit and blood of my father, mother and my ancestors. So I am really never alone. My identity is through that line.

There is a physical relationship with a woman that you don't have with anybody else, but that's not about love. Love is a spiritual thing.

The political system is not for the people. The people are secondary to the economy. It's about what generates money, not about what benefits the people.

I want to be fulfilled in myself, rather than try to follow exactly in my father's footsteps.

God is like the sun. When the sun shines, it shines for everyone. God is for everyone.

There's more to life than physical and material.

Fitness has always been one of the top priorities in my life because that's the way I grew up, with soccer being the sport of choice.

Proud about my father? What am I most proud of? I think I'm proud of the legacy he left I think is what it is. He has left us so much.

I grew up with coconuts as the main flavor in food in Jamaica. It's part of our culture.

Yoga is a great thing and meditation is also great to get connected to yourself more.

I never did feel any pressure in Jamaica. You just someone, not nobody big.

I am a compassionate human being. I am who I am.

I have a satellite radio show called 'The Legends of Reggae.' It's a cool way to branch out and do other things. I'm paying respect to the legends of reggae.

Hemp is a part of the cannabis plant, and it is very useful.

My father's music gives hope to people and also inspires them to break the bonds of injustice and to be positive in life. I've seen that everywhere I go, especially in poor countries and poor neighborhoods.

Jamaica has problems; America has problems; everywhere has problems.

We believe in the almighty and we believe in God and that music is from God and we're inspired by God to give messages and ideas to people.

This dragonfly came up to me. He was hovering right in front of my face, and I was really examining him, thinking, How does he see me? I became enlightened.

People treat you according to your energy or what you put out there, so what I put out there is very open. I'm not paranoid or scared, I'm open. That's how I treat people, with respect and speak truthfully.

I am a leader. Leaders always get heat. They're always going against the grain. Jimi Hendrix got heat; Bob Marley got heat; Miles Davis got heat. Every great artist got heat. Heat means you're doing something right.

I want people to get over the stigma about hemp. These seeds can't make you high, but they will make you feel good.

Religion has become so many different things. Religion is an economic thing for some people. Religion is a gun.

Children are the world's future, and we need to take care of them like we would any precious resource.

I think it's wrong the way they criminalize herb. There are many more uses than just smoking. Beneficial to mankind.

If religion had a good purpose, then man would have created something great. But we're man: we mess up everything. We mess up nature. We mess up God. We take what is given to us and make it into what we think it should be.

I like doing nothing, actually. Doing nothing is better thing when I am not working.

I don't fight creativity. I don't fight against not being creative. If I'm not being creative, I'm not forcing it.

I am expressing myself truthfully. That is an important thing.

Music is one of the most essential things in life. It is what teaches us.

In my songs, the sex is all subliminal. It's subliminal, spiritual.

Growing up, music was an important part of my childhood. I see it being just as important in my children and all children's growth and development, and in a parent's connection with their children.

The long-term study of GMO foods is going on in real time and in real life. Not in a lab.

I'm not so much into the beats. I'm more into the spiritual side of the music.

The people who are teaching religion and not teaching love are missing the message.

The revolution will come from the people and the willingness to work towards something better, to fight for a better living.

I have found that children are the most open-minded of all my audiences. They are not set in their ways. They are open to ideas.

My father was interested in bringing reggae music to the entire world.

URGE is a grassroots charity. We organized to get some incubators to give to the hospital for the kids. We donate money to orphanages.

I don't chase what I hear on the radio. I try not to compete with anybody.

I follow the universe; I follow G-d. G-d made the sun, and the sun shines on everyone.

It's that kind of in-born music thing - I could pick up the guitar and play something. It's not something I consciously do.

'She Wolf,' by Shakira, makes you want to let go of your inhibitions and jam.

I am a leader, so leaders always get heat. They're always going against the grain. Jimi Hendrix got heat; Bob Marley got heat; Miles Davis got heat. Every great artist got heat. Heat means you're doing something right.

Art is always good. It just depends if you like or not.

I don't believe in other people's ideas. I have my own ideas.

I prefer the country life. I live in Kingston, but there is lots of trees.

I'm inspired to do music. I really can't stop unless I stop being inspired.

In Jamaica, we eradicated polio many years ago, but there are a lot of kids suffering in Africa still.

My father was like the Old Testament. I am the New Testament. I am part of a new generation. In time, people will realize this.

Politics, nature, and what is happening all over the world is important to who we are and where we live.

The Rastafari culture has a very strong connection to Haile Selassie, a descendant of King Solomon.

I think the people should have a right to boycott whoever they want to boycott without the government making them into criminals and try to protect corporations from people. They should protect people from corporations.

Today, music is great for entertainment, but it is lacking soul; it's lacking substance, and it's difficult to find good stuff. There are too many corporate interests. It's not about the actual music because it's about the corporation, and music just becomes part of a package.

The African-American community still needs to come together as one and stand up for rights of the people and of what's happening in their culture, their community.

The last thing my father told me was: 'On your way up, take me up. On your way down, don't let me down.' A father telling his son that puts some responsibility on my shoulders. He told me that, and I take it very seriously.

I love running in nature. I don't like running on the streets, I don't like running in the city, I don't like running on the concrete. I love running in nature, so Jamaica provides a lot of that for me.

I think my type of personality has all music inside of it, so I am full of music, without even knowing it, without even learning it, without even hearing it.

I'm not an American, Do they count the votes in America? I haven't voted in Jamaica either.

I make music that I know that people will enjoy, and balance the ideas and philosophy that we put in music with music that when we play it live, people can move to it and groove to it.

I would look at a dog and when our eyes met, I realized that the dog and all creatures are my family. They're like you and me.

I rented a house, recorded the stuff in a house. Just took my time 'cuz sometimes it's just rush, rush, rush. I just wanna live and play music.

I used to have this little mouse. I buy birds from the pet store and I let them go.

I was 12 when my father passed, so I didn't have a father during my teenage years.

My father's songs don't intimidate me; my father's songs are my songs. My songs are his songs. There's no intimidation.

I think God surrounds us, in all different manifestations of the energy.

I'm not a slave to the recording industry. I have the freedom to make an album that I want to make and do it the way I want.

My father and I had a really good relationship. We're cool. I am not trying to outdo him or anything like that.

Society and the system and politicians don't want people to be aware of things. They want people to believe what they have to show 'em.

The music I do is food... that will be your dinner.

I believe we are all connected to other people. I am connected to people who are suffering. We all are.

Some of my songs I don't do on tour because they don't work well live.

Sometimes my mistakes turn into interesting music because I do things that aren't supposed to be done.

The idea of who my father is to me is very different than who he is to you, or to the rest of the world.

It's very important that we instill some respect for the parents. In America especially, the kids are unruly, screaming at Mommy and Daddy, running the show.