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For Years, My Mom Dated A Man Who Was Really Active In The Baptist Church In The Town Next To The Town I Grew Up In, And So He Used To Drag Me To These Baptist Church Services That Lasted Forever. I Remember That I Didn't Like The Church Services, But I Really Liked The Music.

-Moby

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For Years, My Mom

Moby

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For Years, My Mom Dated A Man Who Was Really Active In The Baptist Church In The Town Next To The Town I Grew Up In, And So He Used To Drag Me To These Baptist Church Services That Lasted Forever. I Remember That I Didn't Like The Church Services, But I Really Liked The Music.

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The Average Life Expectancy Of A Celebrity Is 20 Years Less Than Someone Working In A Coal Mine.

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The Idea Of Feeling Old Is Much More The Worry Of A Slightly Younger Person. When You Are Getting Old, That Becomes - Psssh - Completely Secondary To The Absolute Understanding Of How Short Your Life Is.

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I Taught Bible Study, And There Was Period Where I Thought All Of My Beliefs Were Right, And Everybody Who Disagreed With Me Was Wrong.

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If I Was A Sex Symbol, I Would Be Getting Laid A Lot More Than I Am Now.

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Most Artists, You Know, You Spend Their Entire Lives Learning How To Play Music And Write Songs, And They Don't Really Know How The Music Business Works.

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When I Say, 'i Love Christ And Love The Teachings Of Christ,' I Mean That In The Most Simple And Naive Way. I'm Not Saying I'm Right.

Nasa Is An Utterly Fascinating Place, And The Fact That The Buildings Look So Anonymous Almost Make It More Fascinating. You Walk By A Generic Office-park-looking Building, And You Have No Idea What's Going On Inside.

These New Metal Bands Are Going Out, Getting Drunk And Going To Strip Clubs, And They'll Be Doing The Same In Thirty Years. There Isn't Even An Interesting Self-destructive Quality To It . . . It's Just Dumb.

When I Saw Music As A Means To An End - More Fame, More Money, Dating Celebrities - That's When Things Have Gone Terribly Wrong. Now My Life Is Focused On Just Trying To Keep Making Music. Because When It's Really Good, It's Just The Most Remarkable Feeling On The Planet.

I Remember New York In The '80s As A Place With Vacant Lots That Would Eventually Give Over To Nature. Weeds Would Grow Up, Squirrels Would Move In. That Entropy Is Gone Now. It's Too Expensive To Let A Vacant Lot Go Natural.

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I'd Strike The Sun If It Insulted Me.

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And If We Obey God, We Must Disobey Ourselves, And It Is In This Disobeying Ourselves, Wherein The Hardness Of Obeying God Consists.

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I Have Actually Found Myself Buying Up More And More Old Analogue Gear. I Have This Strange Obsession With Old Drum Machines.

For Me, New York Still Ranks As The Most Beautiful And The Most Interesting City In The World. It Is Also The Most Varied In Terms Of The Things It Has To Offer.

I Read The New Testament, Specifically The Gospels And I Was Struck At Their Divinity, Feeling That Humans Could Not Have Figured This Out On Their Own. We're Just Not Bright Enough.

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Here Was Long Period On My Life When I Was Very Disappointed By The Fact I Wasn't Gay. Because I Grew Up Going To Gay Clubs, Living In New York And La, Both Very Gay Cities.

My Biggest Concern Is Trying To Keep Crazy Republicans Out Of Office.

Keep Your Weather Eye Open, And Sing Out Every Time.

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As Time Passes And The More Advanced Science Becomes, The More Interesting It Becomes.

I Like To Quote Homer Simpson: 'i'm Like A Chocoholic Except For Alcohol.' I Come From A Long Line Of Alcoholics. It's Funny Because When I First Started Making Records, I Was At The Tail End Of A Period Of Sobriety, So I Somehow Got This Reputation As Captain Sober.

No One Drives In Manhattan - In Fact, Many Of The Folks Who Live In Manhattan Don't Even Have Driving Licenses!

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Nothing Can Stop Us Now 'cause We Are All Made Of Stars.

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If You Make A Record, You Should Ask Yourself, 'did It Make Someone Cry, In A Good Way, Not A Bad Way?' There Should Almost Be Subjective Emotional Criteria For Evaluating Work, Instead Of Just Profitability.

I'm A Weird, Bald Musician Who Makes Records In His Bedroom And Lives In The Lower East Side.

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There Are A Lot Of Great Animal Rights Organizations Who Save Dogs And Save Cats, But The Humane Society Is Actually Really Good At Working With Congress And Getting Legislation Actually Passed.

I’ve Never Seen The Need To Choose One Type Of Music At The Exclusion Of Another. That Would Feel Kind Of Sad And Arbitrary.

I Feel Like Sometimes We Have To Be A Little Less Inclusive And Tolerant If Other People's Opinions Could Lead To The Destruction Of Our Species.

What I Love About Making Albums In The 21st Century Is That So Few People Buy Albums! I Can Make An Album Without Any Commercial Concerns Whatsoever.

Every Time You Read An Interview With A Supermodel, They're Always Like, 'oh, I Was A Such Nerd.' I Resent That A Little Bit. I Was In The A/v Club. I Used To Eat My Lunch In A Closet.

It’s Perfectly Natural For Me To Sit Down And Talk About Meditating And Spiritual Practice With My Friends. But Then I Realize, How Would It Sound To A Drunk Cynical Guy In London?

The People Who Get More Fame, Who Get More Money, More Often Than Not They Are Miserable, Insecure And On Anti-depressants. It's Strange That Everyone Keeps Buying Into This Idea That More Success Is Good, That More Fame Is Good, That More Money Is Good. Yet, We Look At The People Who Have More Success, More Fame, More Money And They're Miserable.

When I Listen To Gospel Singers Pouring Their Heart Out To God, It's The Act Of Pouring Their Hearts Out That Interests Me.

There Are Viable (and Usually Better) Alternatives To The Use Of Animals For Food, Sport, Clothing, & Experimentation. I Beg You To Discontinue Any Actions That Might Cause Or Condone Animal Torture, Abuse, Or Destruction.

The Worst Case Scenario Is You Really Like Someone's Work, Then You Meet Them And They're A Self-involved, Entitled Douchebag.

Worst Case Scenario

I Believe That To Knowingly Commit Actions That Cause Or Condone Suffering Is Reprehensible In The Extreme. I Call Upon You To Be Compassionate And Treat Others As You Want To Be Treated. If You Don't Want To Be Beaten, Imprisoned, Mutilated, Killed Or Tortured Then You Shouldn't Condone Such Behavior Towards Anyone, Be They Human Or Not.

New York Has Inspired More Remarkable Music Than Any Other City I Can Think Of.

I Believe That The Role Of Limited Government Should Be Looking After The Needs Of Veterans, The Elderly, Children And Those Institutions That Improve The Quality Of Life For Struggling Families - I Don't Believe That Government Should Bend To Serve The Needs Of Subsidized Multi-national Corporations And Entitled Billionaires.

As Long As The World Continues To Be Strange And Interesting, I Still Want To Take Pictures Of It.

Can't Do Any Work With A Rock Star; You Have To Go Through Their Lawyers And Their Agents And Their Managers And You Have To Book Them Hotel Rooms. When You Work With Your Friends, You Just Call Them Up And They Come Over And You Record And Then You Go Out To See A Movie.

The Progressive Movement Needs More Crazy And Amoral/immoral Right-wing Politicians And Pundits Like Tom Delay And Newt Gingrich And Ann Coulter And Sean Hannity.

People Assume That Somehow Fame And Wealth Will Keep Mortality At Bay.

Should The Progressives In Germany In The 30s Have Tolerated The National Socialists? Of Course They Shouldn't Have.

There's Nothing In The Actual Bible That Limits A Christian In Their Appreciation Of Or Interest In Science. Anti-science Is Purely A Function Of Ignorant Fundamentalism.

It Seems So Antithetical To The Teachings Of Christ To Proclaim Your Faith In Public. I Mean, Of Course You're Not Supposed To Hide Your Light Under A Bushel.

I Don't Think Of Myself As A Singer; I Usually End Up Singing When I Can't Find Anyone Better To Sing, Or When I'm Too Lazy To Find Someone Better.

I Think The Ideal Job In That Alternative Universe Would Be To Lead Whitewater Rafting Trips Through The Grand Canyon. So Maybe I'd Be A Guy Leading Whitewater Rafting Trips At The Grand Canyon. Or Maybe A Professional Skydiver.

Look Not Too Long In The Face Of The Fire, O Man! Never Dream With Thy Hand On The Helm! Turn Not Thy Back To The Compass; Accept The First Hint Of The Hitching Tiller; Believe Not The Artificial Fire, When Its Redness Makes All Things Look Ghastly. To-morrow, In The Natural Sun, The Skies Will Be Bright; Those Who Glared Like Devils In The Forking Flames, The Morn Will Show In Far Other, At Least Gentler, Relief; The Glorious, Golden, Glad Sun, The Only True Lamp—all Others But Liars!

When I Dj At Big Venues I Try To Play Tracks That I Would Want To Hear If I Were E'd Up In A Field With 50,000 Other People.

I've Been An Animal Rights Activist And A Vegan For 28 Years. The Entire Time, I've Asked Myself: How Do I Best Advance An Animal Rights Agenda?

Luckily Almost No One Buys Music Anymore, So Selling Music Doesn't Really Affect Any Of My Professional Decisions.

I Find London Really Exciting But There's A Lot Of Vicious Success Here. Like New York, There's A Lot Of Incredibly Successful People Who Feel Incredibly Entitled, Perhaps Justifiably, But I Don't Want To Be Around Viciously Entitled People.

Everyone Feels Awkward, Everyone Feels Uncomfortable, Everyone Gets Older, Everyone Gets Lonely, Everyone Gets Sick, Everyone Eventually Dies.

The Moment That You Impose Your Will On Another Person Or Animal, That's When We Are Allowed To Say You Have Committed An Ethical Breach.

For My Most Of My Career I've Been A Falling-down Drunk. Most Of My Interviews Were Done Hungover, And For A While It Was Great.

Who Wakes Up When They're Worth £120million And Says, 'i'm Unhappy Today But If Only I Had An Extra £2million!'

I Remember I Went To Berlin Right After The Wall Came Down. I First Went To East Berlin, And All The Buildings Were Old And Falling Down, And Now When You Go Back To Berlin, You Know You're In The East Because All The Buildings Are Brand New And Very Tall.

I Love The Idea Of Making Records That People Can Use, Records That Have A Sense Of Utility.

It's Sometimes Too Easy To Point Fingers When Circumstances Dramatically Go Awry, But As An Addict, I'm Ultimately Responsible For My Own Decisions, No Matter How Benign Or Tragic The Consequences.

Traffic Terrifies Me.

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Oftentimes Things That Seem Really Difficult And Traumatic In The Short Term Seem A Lot Less Difficult And Traumatic In The Long Term.

It's Enshrined In Our Constitution That An Individual Has A Right To Release Information And Disseminate Information That Makes The Powers That Be Uncomfortable.

The Aggressive, Energised, Political, Or Even Politicised, Culturally Aware Music Hasn't Really Existed [recently].

Since I Was Really Little, I've Just Always Had An Obsession With, Not Just Science Fiction, But Science And Space. And Also Because As Time Passes And The More Advanced Science Becomes, The More Interesting It Becomes.

The Truth Is That Genetics Has Robbed Me Of Hair. But It's Not Interesting To Blame Genetics.

The Midlife Crisis You're Having At 30 Is Indulgent, But The Midlife Crisis You Have At 45 Is To An Extent Thrust Upon You.

There's No Wrong Way To Meditate. And Meditation Should Never Be A Difficult Practice That Leads To Self Criticism.

If There Is True Evil In The World - It Is Republican Conservatives.

Why Can't A Democrat Get Fired Up About Protecting The Environment And Enacting Gun Control Legislation Just As Right Wing Republicans Get Fired Up About Making Sure That Children Have Access To Assault Weapons And Banning 'the Catcher In The Rye' And 'harry Potter'?

Assault Weapons

In A Perfect World, I Would Be 6-foot-3 And Have A Perfect Head Of Hair And Look Like Orlando Bloom.

The World Is Too Big And Too Intricate To Conform To Our Ideas Of What It Should Be Like... Just Because We Invent Myths And Theories To Explain Away The Chaos We're Still Going To Live In A World That's Older And More Complicated Than We'll Ever Understand.

How Do I Transform Pain. I Guess The Number One Way In Which I Do That Is By Working On Music, But Also It Can Be Anything From Just Talking About It With Other People Or Doing Kickboxing Or Meditating Or Running Around With Dogs. Or Just Simply Trying To Sit With It And Be Mindful And Be Aware Of It.

Shaving Your Head Is Acceptable. It's When You Start Wearing Toupees And Brushing Your Hair Over That Things Go Wrong.

I Just Have To Remind Myself That My Daily Quotidie In Life Has Almost Nothing To Do With Any Aspect Of My Professional Life As A Public Figure.

Professional Life

For His Sake I'm Sorry That Robert Johnson Sold His Soul To The Devil, But For Our Sake And The Sake Of Music I'm Glad He Did.

There Are So Many Causes. Gun Control, Climate Change, Deforestation, Animal Welfare, Human Welfare, Education. Working On The Big Issues Is Noble And Great, But Being Aware Of What’s Going On Around You Right At This Moment, Being Kind To The People Around You, Extending Compassion And Decency, Not Just To Everyone You Meet But Also To Yourself—i Think That’s One Of The Biggest Challenges Most People Face.

At 3 O'clock In The Morning On Tour When You're Sober Is A Lot Less Fun Than 3 A.m. When You're Drunk In A Bar Or In A Nightclub. But Having Said That, 9 In The Morning On Tour Sober Is Immeasurably Better Than 9 A.m. On Tour When You're Hung Over And Feeling Like Death.

I Don't Think Too Much About How It Might Exist In The World In A Commercial Sense - I More Just Try And Focus On Making Music That I Love And Trying To Put It Out Into The World.

Factory-farm Lobbyists Are So Powerful And So Well Funded And They Do Everything In Their Power To Hide The Truth About Farming. They Keep The Farms And Slaughterhouses In Places That Most People Never Visit; They Execute Huge Marketing Campaigns In An Effort To Make Animal Production Look Like A Happy, Nice, Benign Institution.

In The Long, Nonillustrious History Of White People Pilfering African American Culture, Have I Just Perpetrated That? I'm Motivated By A Love For The Music And By A Love Of The Performances, And I Really Hope I Haven't Done Anything Bad.

One Can Only Snort So Many Ants And Have So Much Sex Before One Starts To Long For The Comfort And Companionship Of A Good Book.

I Love Thich Nhat Hahn. One Of My Favorite Quotes Of His (and I’m Paraphrasing), He’s Talking About Cultivating Happiness, And He Was Saying, At The Very Least, Just Be Happy You’re Not At The Dentist Right Now. He Was Talking To Someone Who Was Having A Really Hard Time Finding Joy.

My Goal Is To Make One-not A Hodgepodge, But Just The Sort Of Record That I Would Want To Listen To.

Up Until The Rise Of Electronic Music, If You Were A Musician In Portugal Or Germany Or Italy Or Japan, And You Didn't Sing In English, You Really Were Limited: You Could Be Successful In The Country Where People Understood Your Language. The World Of Electronic Music Is Completely International. You Have Djs From Finland Making Huge Records For People In New Zealand, Djs In South Korea Making Huge Records For People In France. By The Fact That It Doesn't Cost Anything To Make, And That It Transcends Language, Nation It Accidentally Accomplishes A Lot Of Really Remarkable Things.

A Lot Of My Friends Who Grew Up In Manhattan Have A Strange Phobia About Brooklyn. It's Big And Scary And They Get Lost.

It's Almost Like A Sign Of Mental Illness To Base Your Self-worth On The Opinions Of Complete Strangers, You Know?

Up Until I Started Working With Him, I Had Thought That Music Was A Nice Thing That I Enjoyed And Liked Making, But It Wasn’t A Serious Healing Modality. What Dr. Sacks Has Proven Is That Music Is Actually A Quantifiable, Profound Healing Modality.

I Don't Have Children, But I Imagine If Parents Are Really Pushed On The Subject, They Probably Have Favorite Children.

Better A Loving Single-parent Family Than A 'conventional' Family Where The Parents Hate Each Other And The Father Is A Demagogue.

Over Time, I Started Becoming More Aware Of The Vastness And Complexity Of The Universe, Which Led Me Away From Any Sort Of Conventional Christianity. I Still Love The Teachings Of Christ, But I Also Believe That The Human Condition Prevents Us From Having Any True Objective Knowledge Of The Universe. All Human Belief Systems Are Inherently Flawed. If I Had To Label Myself Now, I'd Call Myself A Taoist-christian-agnostic Quantum Mechanic. Also, There's Nothing In The Actual Bible That Limits A Christian In Their Interest In Science. Anti-science Is A Function Of Ignorant Fundamentalism.

When I Was A Drunk, New York Was The Greatest Place In The World. You Walk Everywhere, Everything Is Open Until Four In The Morning, And People Go To New York Looking For Debauchery.

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Helen Gurley Brown

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