There isn’t a bigger name in the genre of reggae than Bob Marley.
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He looms over the musical style as large as, perhaps, everyone combined. Regardless, Marley’s legacy is bedazzled thanks to songs like “No Woman No Cry,” “Could You Be Loved,” “Buffalo Soldier” and a seemingly endless list of hits.
Born February 6, 1945, in Jamaica, Marley formed the Teenagers in 1963 with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. The group eventually became the Wailers. But it wasn’t until 1984 when Marley released his greatest hits album, Legend, that he became an icon. It’s the best-selling reggae album of all time.
Here, though, we wanted to dive into what Marley had to say outside of his great songs. What were his thoughts on life and love, his craft, and the world around him? So, without further ado, let’s dive into the best 25 Bob Marley quotes.
1. “The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.”
2. “Open your eyes, look within. Are you satisfied with the life you’re living?”
3. “When you smoke the herb, it reveals you to yourself.”
4. “When one door is closed, don’t you know, another is open.”
5. “I no have education. I have inspiration. If I was educated, I would be a damn fool.”
6. “Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny.”
7. “Everything is political. I will never be a politician or even think political. Me just deal with life and nature. That is the greatest thing to me.”
8. “Prejudice is a chain, it can hold you. If you prejudice, you can’t move, you keep prejudice for years. Never get nowhere with that.”
9. “What important is man should live in righteousness, in natural love for mankind.”
10. “I’ve been here before and will come again.”
11. “God sent me on earth. He send me to do something, and nobody can stop me. If God want to stop me, then I stop. Man never can.”
12. “You have to be someone.”
13. “Rastafari not a culture, it’s a reality.”
14. “Truth is everybody is going to hurt you: you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for.”
15. “The good times of today, are the sad thoughts of tomorrow.”
16. “Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction.”
17. “Me don’t dip on nobody’s side. Me don’t dip on the black man’s side, not the white man’s side. Me dip on God’s side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white.”
18. “Babylon is everywhere. You have wrong and you have right. Wrong is what we call Babylon, wrong things. That is what Babylon is to me. I could have born in England, I could have born in America, it make no difference where me born, because there is Babylon everywhere.”
19. “Man is a universe within himself.”
20. “If you’re white and you’re wrong, then you’re wrong; if you’re black and you’re wrong, you’re wrong. People are people. Black, blue, pink, green—God make no rules about color; only society make rules where my people suffer, and that why we must have redemption and redemption now.”
21. “People want to listen to a message, word from Jah. This could be passed through me or anybody. I am not a leader. Messenger. The words of the songs, not the person, is what attracts people.”
22. “Bob Marley isn’t my name. I don’t even know my name yet.”
23. “My music will go on forever. Maybe it’s a fool say that, but when me know facts me can say facts. My music will go on forever.”
24. “It take many a year, mon, and maybe some bloodshed must be, but righteousness someday prevail.”
25. “Me only have one ambition, y’know. I only have one thing I really like to see happen. I like to see mankind live together—black, white, Chinese, everyone—that’s all.”
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
