Nine More Quotes From Protest Folk Singer Woody Guthrie

In his 1939 "Woody Sez" column, which he wrote for The People's World newspaper, the mid-20th-century U.S. protest folk songwriter Woody Guthrie wrote the following:

1.  "...I carve here what I wood say is the key secret of the art and science of writing.

"Just decide what you want to write about. Then you decide why you want to write about it.

"Then you climb gently and sweetly up to your paper, and with pen, pencil or typewriter thoroughly cocked and primed...just go ahead an' WRITE IT..."

2.  "...In gettin' acquainted with you readers of The People's World, I ain't got much to say. The reason I ain't got much to say is because I've been a tryin' to rite about myself, an' when a feller is a tryin' to talk about his self, he'd might just as well say nothin'..."

3.  "...I play the guitar and am what is known as a Magical Singer, in as much as I fool the audience completely. I keep them guessing all during the show--why the devil they bought a ticket..."

4.  "Two kinds of Newspapers in the world. A fellow told me the other day that he liked to read his papers before he had breakfast. That's one kind.

"Another kind is for you to read when you ain't got no breakfast, a paper that tells you who's got your breakfast..."

5.  "As long as a nation is run by, of, and for the Workin' People, you got Progress.

"As long as a nation is run by Money Rule, you got rotten politicians, rotten banks, rotten crops, rotten clothing, rotten gangsters, and rotten ever thing..."

6.  "Workers of the world, it's either Unite or Untie, they both spell the same, but they's a whale of a difference...:

7.  "I made ever thing except money an lost ever thing but my debts.

"I ain't a communist necessarily, but I have been in the Red all my life..."

8.  "...Find out who is causing the Trouble here in this old world--remove the Power from their hands--place it in the hands of those who ain't Greedy--and you can rool over and go to sleep..."

9.   "WAR is game played by maniacs who kill each other.

"It is murder, studied, prepared and planned by insane minds, and followed by a bunch of thieves.

"You can't believe in life, and wear the uniform of death...

"  Locate the man who profits by war and strip him of his profits--war will end..."