Quotes of the 60s Generation

Words of expression during the 60s mean so much more now as we reflect back to the tranquil and at times unrestful period we knew as the 60s.

We stand today on the edge of a new frontier -- the frontier of the 1960s, a frontier of unknown opportunities and perils, a frontier of unfulfilled hopes and threats. The new frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises -- it is a set of challenges. John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) Thirty-fifth President of the USA

The real 1960s began on the afternoon of November 22, 1963. It came to seem that Kennedy's murder opened some malign trap door in American culture, and the wild bats flapped out. - Lance Morrow

We were all on this ship in the sixties, our generation, a ship going to discover the New World. And the Beatles were in the crow's nest of that ship. John Lennon (1940-1980) British musician.

The thing the sixties did was to show us the possibilities and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn't the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility. John Lennon (1940-1980) British musician.

The easiest way for your children to learn about money is for you not to have any. Author: Katharine Whitehorn Subject: Money

Television is more interesting than people. If it were not, we would have people standing in the corners of our rooms. Author: Alan Corenk Subject: Television

The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office. Author: Robert Frost Subject: Funny

Sports do not build character. They reveal it.  Author: John Wooden Subject: Character

"I don't think Jimi committed suicide in the conventional way. He just decided to exit when he wanted to."
-- Eric Burdon

In 1968, in the midst of the tumultuous 1960s, the Olympics were much more than just another event. Peggy Fleming

"Behind every successful man stands a surprised mother-in-law."  Hubert Humphrey

'So come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned. Just think of happy things, and your heart will fly on wings, forever, in Never Never Land!' Peter Pan

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Muhammad Ali

What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No.5, of course. Marilyn Monroe

I'm not kidding myself. My voice alone is just an ordinary voice. What people come to see is how I use it. If I stand still while I'm singing, I'm dead, man. I might as well go back to driving a truck. Elvis Presley

Some people tap their feet, some people snap their fingers, and some people sway back and forth. I just sorta do 'em all together, I guess. Elvis Presley

I believe the key to happiness is: someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to. Elvis Presley

I ain't no saint, but I've tried never to do anything that would hurt my family or offend God. I figure all any kid needs is hope and the feeling he or she belongs. If I could do or say anything that would give some kid that feeling, I would believe I had contributed something to the world.  Elvis Presley

We believe that if men have the talent to invent new machines that put men out of work, they have the talent to put those men back to work. John F. Kennedy

We would like to live as we once lived, but history will not permit it. John F. Kennedy

A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on." John F. Kennedy

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." John F. Kennedy

"My father always told me that all businessmen were sons of bitches, but I never believed it till now." John F. Kennedy

"Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don't want them to become politicians in the process." John F. Kennedy

Hippies are so phoney and fake. George Harrison

The hippies wanted peace and love. We wanted Ferraris, blondes and switchblades. Alice Cooper

Yippies, Hippies, Yahoos, Black Panthers, lions and tigers alike - I would swap the whole damn zoo for the kind of young Americans I saw in Vietnam. Spiro T Agnew

"In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." Andy Warhol

"We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out." - Decca executive, 1962, after turning down the Beatles.

"And for the tourist who really wants to get away from it all, safaris in Vietnam." - Newsweek magazine, predicting popular holidays for the late 1960s.

"With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a big slice of the US market." - Business Week, August 2, 1968

"But what [...] is it good for?" - Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.

The message may not move me,
Or mean a great deal to me,
But hey! it feels so groovy to say...
"I Did Rock & Roll Music" (1967)-- Peter, Paul & Mary

"Did you ever feel like the whole world was a tuxedo and you were a pair of brown shoes?"
-- comedian George Gobel on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, 1968

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. Martin Luther King Speech in St. Louis March 22, 1964

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King

It was a wonderful time to be young. The 1960s didn't end until about 1976. We all believed in Make Love, Not War. We were idealistic innocents, despite the drugs and sex. Margot Kidder

Life is precious and time is a key element. Let's make every moment count and help those who have a greater need than our own." Harmon Killebrew

Hubert Humphrey talks so fast that listening to him is like trying to read Playboy magazine with your wife turning the pages.  Barry M. Goldwater

Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. There's nothing to do but to stand there and take it. Lyndon B. Johnson

If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: "President Can't Swim."  Lyndon B. Johnson

Dad, I'm in some trouble. There's been an accident and you're going to hear all sorts of things about me from now on. Terrible things.  Edward Kennedy

The more bombers, the less room for doves of peace. Nikita Khrushchev

Without censorship, things can get terribly confused in the public mind. General William Westmoreland, during the war in Vietnam

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. ~Jimi Hendrix, American Musician, Guitarist, Singer, Songwriter~

You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom. ~Malcolm X~

Love is the only force capable of turning an enemy into a friend. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.~

I would say that I'm a nonviolent soldier. In place of weapons of violence, you have to use your mind, your heart, your sense of humor, every faculty available to you...because no one has the right to take the life of another human being. ~Joan Baez~