Top 50 Phil Ochs Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “In such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty.”

— Phil Ochs

2. “Step outside the guidelines of the official umpires and make your own rules and your own reality.”

— Phil Ochs

3. “God isn’t dead – he’s just missing in action.”

— Phil Ochs

4. “Show me the prison, Show me the jail, Show me the prisoner whose life has gone stale. And I’ll show you a young man with so many reasons why And there, but for fortune, go you or I.”

— Phil Ochs

5. “One good song with a message can bring a point more deeply to more people than a thousand rallies.”

— Phil Ochs

6. “The fortunes of the entire world may well ride on the ability of young Americans to face the responsibilities of an old America gone mad.”

— Phil Ochs

7. “There is an urgent need for Americans to look deeply into themselves and their actions, and musical poetry is perhaps the most effective mirror available. Every newspaper headline is a potential song.”

— Phil Ochs

8. “And if there’s any hope for America, it lies in a revolution, and if there’s any hope for a revolution in America, it lies in getting Elvis Presley to become Che Guevara.”

— Phil Ochs

9. “You can do right or you can do what you are told. And the prize of the victory will belong to the bold.”

— Phil Ochs

10. “Is there anybody here who thinks that following the orders takes away the blame Is there anybody here who wouldn’t mind a murder by another name?”

— Phil Ochs

11. “And I won’t be laughing at the lies when I’m goneAnd I can’t question how or when or why when I’m goneCan’t live proud enough to die when I’m goneSo I guess I’ll have to do it while I’m here.”

— Phil Ochs

12. “The only possibility in the United States for a humane society would be a revolution with Elvis Presley as leader.”

— Phil Ochs

13. “Even though you can’t expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt.”

— Phil Ochs

14. “In the state of Mississippi, Many Years Ago, a boy of 14 years got a taste of Southern law.”

— Phil Ochs

15. “She’s staring down her desires, while they’re staring down her dress.”

— Phil Ochs

16. “The final story, the final chapter of western man, I believe, lies in Los Angeles.”

— Phil Ochs

17. “Beneath the greatest love lies a hurricane of hate.”

— Phil Ochs

18. “If you ever get a war without blood and gore, well, I’ll be the first to go.”

— Phil Ochs

19. “It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the act of struggle itself, not what you win.”

— Phil Ochs

20. “Evil is done in hopes that evil surrenders, but the deeds of the devil are burned too deep in the embers, and world of hunger in vengeance will always remember.”

— Phil Ochs

21. “God help the troubadour who tries to be a star. The more that you try to find success, the more that you will fail.”

— Phil Ochs

22. “It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the act of struggle itself, not what you win. Even though you can’t expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That’s morality, that’s religion. That’s art. That’s life.”

— Phil Ochs

23. “It’s always the old to lead us to the war. It’s always the young to fall.”

— Phil Ochs

24. “Mother Goose is on the loose, stealing lines from Lenny Bruce.”

— Phil Ochs

25. “So good to be alive when the eulogies are read.”

— Phil Ochs

26. “One legged veterans will greet the dawn, and they’re whistling marches as they mow the lawn, and the gargoyles on sit and grieve.”

— Phil Ochs

27. “Love is a rainbow curving down from the sky, falling crystals of color, shades of warm that never die.”

— Phil Ochs

28. “America is two Mack trucks colliding on a superhighway because all the drivers are on amphetamines.”

— Phil Ochs

29. “Only as strong as our love for this land, only as tall as we stand.”

— Phil Ochs

30. “Leaving America is like losing twenty pounds and finding a new girlfriend.”

— Phil Ochs

31. “Some people never get their feet on the ground, They’re either sitting in a chair or theyre laying down...”

— Phil Ochs

32. “I like Hitler, jolly jolly Hitler.”

— Phil Ochs

33. “So do your duty, boys, and join with prideServe your country in her suicideFind the flags so you can wave goodbyeBut just before the end even treason might be worth a tryThis country is too young to dieI declare the war is overIt’s over, it’s over.”

— Phil Ochs

34. “When they show the destruction of society on color TV, I want to be able to look out over Los Angeles and make sure they get it right.”

— Phil Ochs

35. “Comfort his family with a telegram, we regret to inform you we lost a man, but we gave him the highest medal of the land.”

— Phil Ochs

36. “In the courtroom, watch the balance of the scalesIf the price is right, there’s time for more appealsThe strings are pulled, the switch is stayedThe finest lawyers fees are paidAnd a rich man never died upon the chair.”

— Phil Ochs

37. “The only way to Cuba is with the CIA.”

— Phil Ochs

38. “I write all my own songs and they are just simple melodies with a lot of lyrics. They usually have to do with current events and what is going on in the news. You can call them topical songs, songs about the news, and then developing into more philosophical songs later.”

— Phil Ochs

39. “Maybe we should raise our voices, ask somebody why. But demonstrations are a drag, besides we’re much too high.”

— Phil Ochs

40. “I’m gonna give all I’ve got to giveCross my heart, and I hope to live.”

— Phil Ochs

41. “Does defending liberalism leave you friendless and perhaps wondering about your breath?”

— Phil Ochs

42. “I wonder who I left behind on the other side of fame.”

— Phil Ochs

43. “I can spare a dime, brother, but in these morally inflationary times, a dime goes a lot farther if it’s demanding work rather than adding to the indignity of relief.”

— Phil Ochs

44. “You can do what’s right, or you can do what you are told.”

— Phil Ochs

45. “But our land is still troubled by men who have to hate. They twist away our freedom, and they twist away our fate. Fear is their weapon, and treason is their cry. We can stop them if we try.”

— Phil Ochs

46. “Show me a country where the bombs had to fallShow me the ruins of buildings so tallAnd I’ll show you a young landWith many reasons whyThere but for fortune, go you or IYou or I.”

— Phil Ochs

47. “The people who carried the burden, who marked in strange field in search of an answer, and ended their journeys an unwilling hero.”

— Phil Ochs

48. “The glory that was Lincoln’s never died when he was slain.”

— Phil Ochs

49. “The painter paints his brushes blackThrough the canvas runs a crackPortrait of the pain never answers back.”

— Phil Ochs

50. “In the town of Bethlehem many years ago, a man got religion and he changed the status quo.”

— Phil Ochs