Irish singer & songwriter (1960- )
On the day of my 50th birthday I received an injury because I was over indulging in exercise boxing and cycling, which was itself an overcompensation for overindulging on alcohol coming up to the big birthday. I promised myself I would be more mindful of my limits, but just four years on, it happened again -- a massive injury I can't blame on anyone but myself, mainly because I blanked out on impact and have no memory of how I ended up in New York Presbyterian with my humerus bone sticking through my leather jacket. Very punk rock as injuries go.
BONO
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"LITTLE BOOK OF A BIG YEAR: Bono's A to Z of 2014"
To touch is to heal, to hurt is to steal
If you want to kiss the sky, better learn how to kneel.
On your knees, boy.
BONO
"Mysterious Ways"
Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die.
BONO
"Crumbs from Your Table"
One love, one blood
One life, you got to do what you should
One life, with each other
Sisters, brothers
One life, but we're not the same
We get to carry each other, carry each other.
BONO
"One"
If I could put it simply, I would say that I believe there's a force of love and logic in the world, a force of love and logic behind the universe. And I believe in the poetic genius of a creator who would choose to express such unfathomable power as a child born in "straw poverty"; i.e., the story of Christ makes sense to me.... As an artist, I see the poetry of it. It's so brilliant. That this scale of creation, and the unfathomable universe, should describe itself in such vulnerability, as a child. That is mind-blowing to me. I guess that would make me a Christian. Although I don't use the label, because it is so very hard to live up to.
BONO
Rolling Stone, November 3, 2005
It's a beautiful day...
Don't let it get away.
BONO
"Beautiful Day"
I have to come clean; I've broken a lot of laws, and the ones I haven't I've certainly thought about. I have sinned in thought, word, and deed. God forgive me. Actually God forgave me, but why would you? I'm here getting a doctorate, getting respectable, getting in the good graces of the powers that be, I hope it sends you students a powerful message: Crime does pay.
BONO
2004 PENN Address
As hard as it is, as ghetto as it is, hip-hop is pop music. It's the sound of music getting out of the ghetto, while rock is looking for a ghetto.
BONO
Chicago Tribune, May 13, 2005
When I was 10, I learned what unlocks creativity. We were studying William Butler Yeats, one of the great poets of the 20th century, and my teacher explained that there was a period when Yeats had writer's block. I put my hand up in class and asked, "Why didn't he write about that?" It was like, "Oh, shut up." I've since learned that there's something to being truthful. The Scriptures say the truth will set you free. The truth is at the root of every piece of creativity. So if you're truthful about your situation, whatever it is as an artist--whether it's despair, whether it's hope, whether it's ambition--suddenly you're there.
BONO
Oprah Magazine, April 2004
I really remember John Lennon's Imagine. I guess I'm twelve; that's one of my first albums. That really set fire to me. It was like he was whispering in your ear -- his ideas of what's possible. Different ways of seeing the world.
BONO
Rolling Stone, November 3, 2005
Love is a temple, Love a higher law.
BONO
"One"
I want to run, I want to hide, I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside. I want to reach out and touch the plains, Where the streets have no names.
BONO
"Where the Streets Have No Names"
I have very little memory of my childhood, so as I raise my kids the memories come back in the most bizarre ways. Like you're singing your baby a song, and you don't know why you remember it, but somehow you do. You don't even know the tune, but you sing it anyway and think, How am I singing this song?
BONO
Oprah Magazine, April 2004
Hey if God will send his angels / And if God will send a sign / And if God will send his angels / Would everything be alright?
BONO
"If God Will Send His Angels", Pop
Well, the heart that hurts is a heart that beats.
BONO
"One Step Closer"
The battle against AIDS is not a last decade issue. It's going to be the next decade issue. We need to finish the job, get new companies, new interest. It's kind of annoying and sometimes upsetting that these global health issues can become creatures of fashion. People think Aids is done -- it's not done.
BONO
The Irish Times, January 24, 2016
It's much harder to be relevant than it is to be successful.
BONO
interview, Larry King Weekend, 2002
Every Artist is a Cannibal, every Poet is a Thief. All kill for inspiration and sing about their grief.
BONO
"The Fly"
There's a truly great Irish poet. His name is Brendan Kennelly, and he has this epic poem called the Book of Judas, and there's a line in that poem that never leaves my mind, it says: "If you want to serve the age, betray it." What does that mean, to betray the age? Well to me betraying the age means exposing its conceits, it's foibles; it's phony moral certitudes. It means telling the secrets of the age and facing harsher truths.
BONO
2004 PENN Address
History will judge us on how we respond to the AIDS emergency in Africa ... whether we stood around with watering cans and watched while a whole continent burst into flames ... or not.
BONO
attributed, Lines for Living