180 Controversial David Bowie Quotes (Life and Love)

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Explore the profound and thought-provoking words of the legendary musician and artist, David Bowie, through a curated selection of his most iconic quotes that continue to inspire generations.

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Famous David Bowie Quotes
Short Quotes from David Bowie
Life Quotes from David Bowie
David Bowie Views on Love
David Bowie Quotes (Inspiring)
David Bowie on Music and Performing

Famous David Bowie Quotes

I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring. David Bowie

I usually don’t agree with what I say very much. I’m an awful liar. David Bowie

There’s a terror in knowing what the world is about David Bowie

I reinvented my image so many times that I’m in denial that I was originally an overweight Korean woman. David Bowie

To not be modest about it, you’ll find that with only a couple of exceptions, most of the musicians that I’ve worked with have done their best work by far with me. David Bowie

I’ve always liked collecting something that nobody else knows about. I always liked everything until everybody else liked it. It’s a very English trait. When somebody else discovers what you like, it’s, Mmm, I’ll move on to something else. David Bowie

Bully for you, chilly for me, got to get a raincheck on pain. David Bowie

You would think that a rock star being married to a supermodel would be one of the greatest things in the world. It is. David Bowie

Comfort comes into your house first as guest, then as a host, then finally as the master. David Bowie

I don’t like to read things that people write about me. I’d rather read what kids have to say about me, because it’s not their profession to do that. David Bowie

I kind of miss that ‘becoming stage,’ as most times you really don’t know what’s around the corner. Now, of course, I’ve kind of knocked on the door and heard a muffled answer. David Bowie

Nevertheless, I still don’t know what the voice is saying, or even what language it’s in. David Bowie

It is entirely possible to create something totally artificial within the realms of rock and roll. David Bowie

I’ve come to the realization that I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing half the time… David Bowie

I always had a repulsive sort of need to be something more than human. I felt very very puny as a human. I thought, F**k that. I want to be a superman. David Bowie

Critics I don’t understand. They get too intellectual. They’re not very well-versed in street talk; it takes them longer to say it. So they have to do it in dictionaries and they take longer to say it. David Bowie

I would like to believe that people knew what they were fighting for and why they wanted a revolution, and exactly what it was within that they didn’t like. David Bowie

There, in the chords and melodies, is everything I want to say. The words just jolly it along. It’s always been my way of expressing what for me is inexpressible by any other means. David Bowie

I guess, – a greater number of the 26 or so albums that I’ve made are known in Europe than they are in America. David Bowie

And these children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds are immune to your consultations. They’re quite aware of what they’re going through. David Bowie

I’m not really concerned with what the general public think of me, or my motives or my actions. I don’t really give a damn, and less and less as I get older. David Bowie

For here, I’m sitting in a tin can, far above the world. Planet earth is blue, and there is nothing I can do. David Bowie

People are always throwing things at me that I’ve said and I say that I didn’t mean anything. David Bowie

Some people are marching together and some on their own. Others are running, the smaller ones crawl. But some sit in silence. David Bowie

I’m rather kind of old school, thinking that when an artist does his work it’s no longer his. David Bowie

Don’t you love the Oxford Dictionary? When I first read it, I thought it was a really really long poem about everything. David Bowie

Heathenism is a state of mind. You can take it that I’m referring to one who does not see his world. He has no mental light. He destroys almost unwittingly. He cannot feel any Gods presence in his lif. He is the 21st century man. Heathenism is a state of mind. You can take it that I’m referring to one who does not see his world. He has no mental light. He destroys almost unwittingly. He cannot feel any Gods presence in his life. He is the st century man. David Bowie

I want people to hear musicians like Joe Cuba. He has done things to whole masses of Puerto Rican people. The music is fantastic and important. David Bowie

Elvis was a major hero of mine. I was probably stupid enough to believe that having the same birthday as him actually meant something. David Bowie

I’m afraid of Americans; I’m afraid of the world; I’m afraid I can’t help it. David Bowie

Everything we look at and choose is some way of expressing how we want to be perceived. David Bowie

Fame can take interesting men and thrust mediocrity upon them. David Bowie

If I’d been an original thinker, I’d never have been in rock & roll. There’s no new way of saying anything. David Bowie

I’m not a prophet or a stone aged man, just a mortal with potential of a superman. I’m living on. David Bowie

Glam really did plant seeds for a new identity. I think a lot of kids needed that that sense of reinvention. David Bowie Quotes

Glam really did plant seeds for a new identity. I think a lot of kids needed that-that sense of reinvention. Kids learned that however crazy you may think it is, there is a place for what you want to do and who you want to be. David Bowie

I suspect that dreams are an integral part of existence, with far more use for us than we’ve made of them…The fine line between the dream state and reality is at times, for me, quite grey. David Bowie

What I like to do is try to make a difference with the work I do. David Bowie

I’ve learned to relax and be my present age and my present position. I feel comfortable on my mid-thirties. It doesn’t seem such an alien place to be. David Bowie

Sometimes I don’t feel as if I’m a person at all. I’m just a collection of other people’s ideas. David Bowie

I’m not sure whether it is me changing my mind, or whether I lie a lot. David Bowie

You’d like to know me well, but I’ve got things inside my head that even I can’t face. David Bowie

For me a chameleon is something that disguises itself to look as much like its environment as possible. I always thought I did exactly the opposite of that. David Bowie

I think much has been made of this alter ego business. I mean, I actually stopped creating characters in 1975 – for albums, anyway. David Bowie

Short Quotes from David Bowie

Never bored, so I’ll never get old. David Bowie

If it works, it’s out of date. David Bowie

I’ve been putting out the fire with gasoline. David Bowie

The end comes when the infinites arrive. David Bowie

I’m an instant star. Just add water and stir. David Bowie

I’ll stick with you baby for a thousand years. David Bowie

It would be positively boring if minds were in tune. David Bowie

It’s only forever… Not long at all. David Bowie

And the stars look very different today. David Bowie

Speak in extremes, it’ll save you time. David Bowie

Trust nothing but your own experience. David Bowie

I never really had much of an interest in fashion. David Bowie

I made a more mature approach to industrial music. David Bowie

I woke up one day and realized I was a closet hetero. David Bowie

I’m a thinker not a talker. David Bowie

I find only freedom in the realms of eccentricity David Bowie

A career of nearly 40 years, is not very long. David Bowie

I always write well in New York. David Bowie

Turn and face the strange. David Bowie

Church on time, makes me party. David Bowie

Life Quotes from David Bowie

A lot of people provide me with quotes. They suggest all kinds of things to say and I do, really, because I’m not very hip at all. David Bowie

I really wanted to do, more than anything else, up until I was around 16, 17 , was write musicals. David Bowie

The truth is of course is that there is no journey. We are arriving and departing all at the same time. David Bowie

I went to a middle-class school, but my background is working class. I got the best of both worlds, I saw both classes, so I have a pretty fair idea of how people live and why they do it. David Bowie

I don’t believe in proper cinema; it doesn’t have the strength of television. People having to go out to the cinema is really archaic. I’d much rather sit at home. David Bowie

Aging is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person you always should have been. David Bowie

I’m English. I can’t accept happiness that easily. There’s got to be a trick in there somewhere. David Bowie

Growing up with my son is one of the greatest enjoyments that I have. David Bowie

People look to me to see what the spirit of the Seventies is. David Bowie

Age doesn’t bother me. So many of my heroes were older guys. It’s the lack of years left that weighs far heavier on me than the age that I am. David Bowie

I can see light at the end of the tunnel and it isn’t a train. David Bowie

I was studying Tibetan Buddhism when I was quite young, again influenced by Kerouac. David Bowie

I’m always amazed that people take what I say seriously. I don’t even take what I am seriously. David Bowie

I don’t expect the human race to progress in too many areas. However, having a child with an ear infection makes one hugely grateful for antibiotics. David Bowie

I don’t like talk and I don’t like talkers. Like Ma Barker. That’s what she always said, ‘Ma Barker doesn’t like talk and she doesn’t like talkers.’ She just sat there with her gun.

I’m very at ease, and I like it. I never thought I would be such a family-oriented guy; I didn’t think that was part of my makeup. But somebody said that as you get older you become the person you always should have been, and I feel that’s happening to me. I’m rather surprised at who I am because I’m actually like my dad! David Bowie

I think fame itself is not a rewarding thing. The most you can say is that it gets you a seat in restaurants. David Bowie

Confront a corpse at least once. The absolute absence of life is the most disturbing and challenging confrontation you will ever have. David Bowie

I still derive immense pleasure from remembering how many hod-carrying brickies were encouraged to put on lurex tights and mince up and down the high street, having been assured by know-it-alls like me that a smidgen of blusher really attracted the birds. David Bowie

People will keep the TV on even if a show is on that they hate – because, unfortunately, they’ve been programmed to do that. David Bowie

It’s a compulsive need to wreck everything. You might notice there’s a pattern of stripping down and building back up again throughout my life. But I guess that’s how some of us conduct our lives. David Bowie

I’m a person who can take on the guises of people I meet. I’m a collector, and I collect personalities and ideas. David Bowie

I always thought I was intellectual about what I do, but I’ve come to the realisation that I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing half the time. David Bowie

As you get older, the questions come down to about two or three. How long? And what do I do with the time I’ve got left? David Bowie

I had enormous self-image, problems and very low self-esteem, which I hid behind obsessive writing and performing. It’s exactly what I do now except I enjoy it now. I’m not driven like I was in my twenties. I was driven to get through life very quickly. David Bowie

I was always accused of being cold and unfeeling. It was because I was intimidated about touching people. David Bowie

I’m an early riser. I get up between five and six, have coffee, and read for a couple of hours before everyone else gets up. David Bowie

I don’t think I did anything that my contemporaries didn’t; David Bowie Quotes

I don’t think I did anything that my contemporaries didn’t; it was just that I was the only one who talked about it. In the Sixties anyone who had a sense of style seemed to be gay. I wanted to indentify with that. David Bowie

It’s odd but even when I was a kid, I would write about ‘old and other times’ as though I had a lot of years behind me. Now I do, so there is a difference in the weight of memory. David Bowie

Don’t let me hear you say life takes you nowhere, angel. David Bowie

I realized the other day that I’ve lived in New York longer than I’ve lived anywhere else. It’s amazing: I am a New Yorker. It’s strange; I never thought I would be. David Bowie

People have attention spans of five seconds and as much depth as a glass of water. David Bowie

It makes me sad when I see artists who come alive when they go onstage, because, gee, I really come alive when I’m home. David Bowie

I really don’t have too many regrets. If I was told it was all going to happen again and I was able to retain the memories of what went down last time, David Bowie Quotes

I really don’t have too many regrets. If I was told it was all going to happen again and I was able to retain the memories of what went down last time, I wouldn’t do it because it’s too risky. Knowing what I know now… I wouldn’t do that to myself again. David Bowie

David Bowie Views on Love

I think that we have created a new kind of person in a way. We have created a child who will be so exposed to the media that he will be lost to his parents by the time he is 12 . David Bowie

I’m not at ease with the word love. David Bowie

I could never have done what I did without being involved with Lindsay Kemp’s company. David Bowie

The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return. David Bowie

There were lots of nightly relationships. But the reason you don’t want to make a commitment is not that you’re such a freewheeling, adventurous person, it’s because you’re scared sh**less that it will turn out like your mother and father. David Bowie

Gentleness clears the soul, love cleans the mind and makes it free. David Bowie

I couldn’t stand to be separated with my wife for months. It became quickly apparent to me that I needed to find a balance between my absolute work obsession and a private life that we could share without my disappearing all the time. David Bowie

I was told that it was cool to fall in love, and that period was nothing like that to me. I gave too much of my time and energy to another person and they did the same to me and we started burning out against each other. And that is what is termed love… David Bowie

I met my wife because we were both going out with the same guy. David Bowie

David Bowie Quotes (Inspiring)

I think that the history of rock could be recycled in a different way and brought back into focus without the luggage that comes along with it. David Bowie

Even though I was very shy, I found I could get onstage if I had a new identity. David Bowie

I’d rather stay here with all the madmen than perish with the sadmen roaming free. David Bowie

I believe in Beatles, I believe my little soul has grown. David Bowie

The only real failure is trying to second-guess the taste of an audience. Nothing comes out of that except a kind of inward humiliation. David Bowie

I don’t make changes to confuse anyone. I’m just searching. That’s what causes me to change. I’m just searching for myself. David Bowie

But I’m pretty good with collaborative thinking. I work well with other people. David Bowie

I feel confident imposing change on myself. It’s a lot more fun progressing than looking back. That’s why I need to throw curveballs. David Bowie

I don’t mind trying it out and making sure something seems to work well. David Bowie

Every time I’ve made a radical change it’s helped me feel buoyant as an artist. David Bowie

Once you lose that sense of wonder at being alive, you’re pretty much on the way out. David Bowie

I’ve never responded well to entrenched negative thinking. David Bowie

I don’t live for the stage. I don’t live for an audience. David Bowie

I had no idea my sexuality would get so widely publicised. It was a very sort of off-the-cuff little remark. Best thing I ever said, I suppose. David Bowie

The minute you know you’re on safe ground, you’re dead. David Bowie

You can’t stand still on one point for your entire life. David Bowie

It’s always time to question what has become standard and established. David Bowie

I had a fantasy that I’d drift up to Scotland and spend my life as a faux bodhisattua. David Bowie

If I never wake again, I certainly will have lived while I was alive. David Bowie

In your fear, seek only peace. In your fear, seek only love. David Bowie

I really believe that Bob Dylan and others have speeded up the changes. Pacifism has found a voice at last. David Bowie

Make the best of every moment. We’re not evolving. We’re not going anywhere. David Bowie

David Bowie on Music and Performing

When I was 9 years old, I wanted to be the baritone sax player in the Little Richard band. David Bowie

I have to take total control myself. I can’t let anybody else do anything, for I find that I can do things better for me. I don’t want to get other people playing with what they think that I’m trying to do. David Bowie

I thought that I could do some kind of vehicle involving rock musicals and presenting rock and characters and storyline in a completely different fashion. David Bowie

Hey man, I gotta straighten my face. This mellow thighed chick just put my spine out of place. David Bowie

I liked rock music, I kind of moved into that sphere, somehow thinking that somewhere along the line I’d be able to put the two together. And I suppose I very nearly did with the Ziggy character. David Bowie

On the other hand, what I like my music to do to me is awaken the ghosts inside of me. Not the demons, you understand, but the ghosts. David Bowie

I think it all comes back to being very selfish as an artist. I mean, I really do just write and record what interests me and I do approach the stage shows in much the same way. David Bowie

All my big mistakes are when I try to second-guess or please an audience. My work is always stronger when I get very selfish about it. David Bowie

Talking about art is like dancing about architecture. David Bowie

When you are an artist you can turn your hand to anything, in any style. Once you have the tools then all the artforms are the same in the end. David Bowie

And I think my spaceship knows which way to go. David Bowie

Music has given me over years of extraordinary experiences. It’s been both my doorway of perception and the house that I live in. David Bowie

I don’t care what anybody says; I like doing it, and it’s what I shall continue to do. David Bowie

He took it all too far, but boy could he play guitar. David Bowie

I think hip-hop is actually one of the most challenging things that’s happened in music in a long time. David Bowie

He says he’s a beautician and sells you nutrition, and keeps all your dead hair for making underwear. Heathenism is a state of mind. You can take it that I’m referring to one who does not see his world. He has no mental light. He destroys almost unwittingly. He cannot feel any Gods presence in his life. He is the st century man. You should turn around at the end of the day and say I really like that piece of work, or that piece of work sucked. Not, was that popular or wasn’t it popular? David Bowie

Fame puts you there where things are hollow. David Bowie

I don’t have stylistic loyalty. That’s why people perceive me changing all the time. But there is a real continuity in my subject matter. As an artist of artifice, I do believe I have more integrity than any one of my contemporaries. David Bowie

I wanted to rewrite how rock music was perceived. David Bowie

I guess a certain contingent of the musicians in London at the beginning of the 70’s were fed up with denim and the hippies. And I think we kind of wanted to go somewhere else. David Bowie

I suppose for me as an artist it wasn’t always just about expressing my work; I really wanted, more than anything else, to contribute in some way to the culture I was living in. David Bowie

I find it easier to write in these little vignettes; if I try to get any more heavy, I find myself out of my league. David Bowie

And it’s always the same kind of artist, I think, who has more enjoyment being slightly on the outside of things, who doesn’t want to be sucked into the tyranny of the mainstream. David Bowie

Because once you get sucked into that, you’re dead as an artist. David Bowie

Fame, what you like is in the Limo. Fame, what you get is no tomorrow. David Bowie

Pop stars are capable of growing old. Mick Jagger at will be marvelous – a battered old roue – I can just see him. An aging rock star doesn’t have to opt out life. When I’m 50 , I’ll prove it… David Bowie

I think that my fascination with clothes generally was motivated by trying to create the characters for the stage. David Bowie

What I like doing is writing and recording and much more on the, I guess, the – on that creative level. It’s fun interpreting songs and all that, but I wouldn’t like it as a living. David Bowie

I think the only music I didn’t listen to was country and western, and that holds to this day. David Bowie

The younger people get into the lyrics in a different way; there’s much more of a tactile understanding, which is the way I prefer it. David Bowie

I needed to sing because nobody else was singing my songs. David Bowie

I never heard so many kids talk about just doing anything to be famous. I mean, yeah, fame is part of the deal when you’re a kid and you think, I wanna go into music, but everybody that I knew was really doing it because of their love for it. I don’t see so much of that anymore. David Bowie

Things have to hit for the moment. That’s one of the reasons I’m into video; the image has to hit immediately. I adore video and the whole cutting up of it. David Bowie

I’m not actually a very keen performer. I like putting shows together. I like putting events together. David Bowie

All art is unstable. Its meaning is not necessarily that implied by the author. There is no authoritative voice. There are only multiple readings. David Bowie

I don’t know how many times someone has come up to me and said, ‘Hey, Lets dance!’. I hate dancing. God, it’s stupid. David Bowie

Once I’ve written something it does tend to run away from me. I don’t seem to have any part of it – it’s no longer my piece of writing. David Bowie

I’m just an individual who doesn’t feel that I need to have somebody qualify my work in any particular way. I’m working for me. David Bowie

As an adolescent, I was painfully shy, withdrawn. I didn’t really have the nerve to sing my songs on stage, and nobody else was doing them. I decided to do them in disguise so that I didn’t have to actually go through the humiliation of going on stage and being myself. David Bowie

I surrounded myself with people who indulged my ego. They treated me as though I was Ziggy Stardust or one of my characters, never realising that David Jones might be behind it. David Bowie

When I heard Little Richard, I mean, it just set my world on fire. David Bowie

I am a moderately good singer. I am not a great singer but I can interpret a song, which I don’t think is quite the same as singing it. David Bowie

I had to resign myself, many years ago, that I’m not too articulate when it comes to explaining how I feel about things. But my music does it for me, it really does. David Bowie

I turned myself to face me, but I’ve never caught a glimpse of how the others must see the faker. David Bowie

I think it’s rather a waste of time endlessly singing the same songs every night for a year, and it’s just not what I want to do. David Bowie

In fact, everything I do is about the conceptualizing and realization of a piece of work, whether it’s the recording or the performance side. David Bowie

Having not really written any generational songs – I think maybe two or three of the songs that I’ve ever written have any bearing on the age of the listener. My stuff tends to be far more concerned with the spiritual and with subjects like isolation and being miserable. David Bowie

I think Lindsay Kemp really introduced me to the work of Jean Genet, and through that, I kind of kept re-educating myself about other prose writers and poets. David Bowie

I didn’t say that wearing a glamorization of the rock artist was any truer from the other thing. David Bowie

A song has to take on character, shape, body and influence people to an extent that they use it for their own devices. It must affect them not just as a song, but as a lifestyle. David Bowie

I wanted to prove the sustaining power of music. David Bowie

You can’t go on stage and live – it’s false all the way. I can’t stand the premise of going out in jeans and a guitar and looking as real as you can in front of 18,000 people. I mean, it’s not normal! David Bowie

Hear this Robert Zimmerman, I wrote a song for you, about a strange young man called Dylan with a voice like sand and glue. David Bowie

David Bowie: A Timeless Icon

David Bowie, born David Robert Jones on January 8, 1947, in Brixton, London, was a visionary musician, actor, and cultural icon. Renowned for his ever-evolving persona and avant-garde approach to music and fashion, Bowie left an indelible mark on the entertainment industry. His artistic contributions spanned over five decades, making him one of the most influential figures in popular culture.

From an early age, Bowie showed a keen interest in music. He started playing the saxophone as a teenager and formed his first band, The Konrads, in the early 1960s. However, it was his 1969 single “Space Oddity” that catapulted him to international fame. The song coincided with the Apollo 11 moon landing and showcased Bowie’s ability to blend storytelling with innovative soundscapes.

Throughout his career, Bowie fearlessly experimented with various musical genres, constantly reinventing himself. From glam rock and soul to electronic and experimental music, his chameleon-like ability to adapt and push boundaries set him apart. Albums like “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” (1972), “Heroes” (1977), and “Let’s Dance” (1983) became iconic, earning critical acclaim and commercial success.

Bowie’s impact extended beyond music. He was also a trailblazer in the world of fashion and visual arts. His alter ego Ziggy Stardust, with flamboyant costumes and androgynous appearance, challenged societal norms and inspired generations of artists. Bowie’s collaborations with photographers, designers, and filmmakers resulted in visually stunning music videos and iconic album covers that remain as captivating today as they were when first released.

Apart from his musical achievements, Bowie showcased his acting prowess in films like “The Man Who Fell to Earth” (1976), “Labyrinth” (1986), and “The Prestige” (2006). His performances were marked by a captivating screen presence and a natural ability to embody complex characters. Bowie’s magnetic presence transcended mediums, captivating audiences and further cementing his status as a cultural legend.

Beyond his artistic pursuits, Bowie was a champion of inclusivity and individuality. His support for LGBTQ+ rights, his candidness about his own bisexuality, and his encouragement of self-expression made him an icon for those who felt marginalized. Bowie’s music and persona provided solace and inspiration to countless individuals, leaving an enduring legacy of acceptance and empowerment.

On January 10, 2016, the world mourned the loss of David Bowie. His death, which came just two days after the release of his final album, “Blackstar,” was met with an outpouring of grief and a renewed appreciation for his contributions to music and culture.

David Bowie’s boundless creativity, unmatched talent, and fearless exploration of artistic boundaries continue to resonate with audiences worldwide. His music and influence endure, reminding us to embrace our individuality and to never be afraid of reinvention. As an enduring icon, David Bowie’s impact on popular culture will remain timeless, ensuring his legacy lives on for generations to come.

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