Background Image

...

The Main Thing Is To Be Myself. What I Mean By That Is, To Be Honest When Called Upon To Express Your Feelings. The Other Thing Is - Maybe This Should Come First - To Be A Good Listener. To Close Your Mouth And To Listen, And To Be Able To Echo Back What Your Partner Says To You.

-Michael Franti

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

The Main Thing Is

Michael Franti

...

The Main Thing Is To Be Myself. What I Mean By That Is, To Be Honest When Called Upon To Express Your Feelings. The Other Thing Is - Maybe This Should Come First - To Be A Good Listener. To Close Your Mouth And To Listen, And To Be Able To Echo Back What Your Partner Says To You.

Views: 43380

Topic

More From Michael Franti

It's Never Too Late To Start The Day Over.

It Ain't About Who Ya Love, It's All About Do Ya Love.

Investing Now In Safe-guarding People By Helping Them To Adapt To Climate Change, Will Help Save Money And Lives While Building Resilience.

I Think The Main Thing I Would Say Is, Don't Settle. Don't Settle For Something That's Not Great.

We Don't Have To Be Good, You Know? No One's Telling Us That We Have To Do Good Things, But We Do Them Because We Know It Makes Other People Feel Good And It Makes Us Feel Good.

The World Can't Have A Global Solution To Climate Change With U.s. Action Alone; And The World Can't Have A Global Solution Without U.s. Action.

I Drive A Hybrid. It's A Ford Escape. That's My Only Car.

The Human Interest, And The Natural Interest, And The Spiritual Interest Of This Planet Need To Begin To Take A Priority Over The Corporate Interest, The Military Interest, And The Materialistic Interests.

Collectively, We Activists Are Essential To Advancing U.s. Policy To Help Empower Marginalized People To Lift Themselves And Their Communities Out Of Poverty For Good.

San Francisco Has Always Been A Haven For Misfits And Weirdos. I'm Both Of Those, Which Is Why I Came Here.

The Most Difficult Part For Me Is Feeling Connected To The People That I Love But Always Being On The Go To Different Places.

During My Travels In Iraq, Israel, Gaza, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, Europe And All Over The United States, I Have Seen And Heard The Voices Of People Who Want Change. They Want The Stabilization Of The Economy, Education And Healthcare For All, Renewable Energy And An Environmental Vision With An Eye On Generations To Come.

Only A Rat Can Win A Rat Race.

The Times When I Feel Not Alive Is When I Feel Stifled, When I Feel Like The Emotion That's In Me Is Not Coming Out. I'm Too Busy, Too Hectic. I'm Serving My Iphone More Than My Spirit. Those Are The Times I Feel Bad.

Don't Let Mistakes Be So Monumental, Don't Let Your Love Be So Confidential, Don't Let Your Mind Be So Darn Judgemental, And Please Let Your Heart Be More Influential. Be Thankful For All That The Spirit Provides And Be Thankful For All That You See Without Eyes.

Music And Yoga Have A Great Synergy.

I've Been In Those Relationships. You Go Through Years Of Your Life And At A Certain Point You Wake Up And You Go, God, What Am I Doing Here? What Have I Spent The Last Three Years Doing? Part Of It Is Learning, This Process You've Gotta Go Through. You Have To Recognize The Point At Which You're Not Learning Anymore, And Be Able To Let It Go.

The More I See, The Less I Know.

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Bonnaroo Has Kind Of Become The Granddaddy Of All American Festivals. The Thing I Love About It Most Is That It Wasn't Born Out Of Picking The Top Ten Bands Off The Billboard Chart And Creating A Festival Around It.

Be As Radiant As The Sun, As Healing As The Rain, As Generous As A Tree.

I Feel Alive When I Feel Ease Of Heart.

When I First Started Out, I Thought It Was Enough To Make An Angry Song That Pointed Out The Problems Of The World.

Playing On The Streets Of Iraq, Or In Israel Or The Gaza Strip, I'd Sing Angry Protest Songs Against War. People Would Say, 'make Us Clap, Make Us Dance, And Laugh And Sing.' It Really Made Me Think About The Importance Of Happy Music.

It Shouldn't Be A Republican Or Democratic Issue Whether We Take Care Of The Environment. That Should Be A Human Issue.

If The First Casualty Of War Is Innocence, Then Perhaps With Each Bullet Fired, Bomb Detonated, Leader Overthrown, Wall Built, Economy Destroyed And Family Member Killed, We Are Not Creating Goodwill And Harmony, But Rather Another Child Who Believes Violence Is The Only Means To Bring About Change In The World.

I've Never Really Been Into Flags Of Any Kind, Cause Flags Can Bring People Together, But They Always Bring People Together Against Other People, And I Don't Really Consider Myself To Be A Patriot In The Sense That I Say, 'okay, This Is My Nation,' I Consider Myself To Be A Child Of This Whole Planet.

The Personal Revolution Is Far More Difficult, And Is The First Step In Any Revolution.

I Believe That Through Positive Thoughts, Speech, Action And Attitudes, We Change Things For The Better.

I Was Adopted When I Was A Baby. My Mother Carried Me For Nine Months And She Held Me For One Hour, And Didn't See Me Again.

When You're In Jamaica, Unless You're In A Tourist Spot, You Don't Hear Bob Marley; You Mostly Hear Dance Hall Music.

Television, The Drug Of The Nation, Breeding Ignorance And Feeding Radiation.

My Yoga Practice, I Do It Because When I Get On My Mat, I Know I'm Going To Be Transformed. I Know That Whatever Stresses Are In My Life Or Whatever Worries I Have Or Whatever Monkey Mind Is Happening For Me, When I Get Off The Mat, I'm Going To Be Transformed.

There's Sometimes When I Feel Really Balanced, And There's Other Times When I Feel Like I'm Trying To Keep Juggling Too Many Balls In The Air, And I Feel Like I'm On The Edge Of Dropping All Of Them And Having Them All Land On My Head, You Know? Scheduling Is A Big Part Of It, And The Other Is Just Remaining Flexible And Keeping A Sense Of Humor About Things.

People Ask Me A Lot, 'what Can One Person Do,' And I Say 'i'm Not Really Sure What One Person Can Due Except Come Together With Other People.'

Music Is Sunshine. Like Sunshine, Music Is A Powerful Force That Can Instantly And Almost Chemically Change Your Entire Mood. Music Gives Us New Energy And A Stronger Sense Of Purpose.

I Think My Soul Is Intact, But My Methods Of Reaching People Are Completely Different.

There Are So Many Things To Be Worried About, And I Wanted To Make A Record That People Could Put On, And It Would Lift Them Up The Way The Sun Did For Me Each Day.

If You Love The Planet Or The Neighborhood - You're Finding Ways To Satisfy The Soul Of The Planet Or Satisfy The Soul Of The Neighborhood.

The U.s. Has Historically Been The World's Largest Contributor To Climate Change.

Don't Settle For Something That's Not Great. Don't Feel Like Having A Relationship That Is Not Serving Your Needs Is More Important Than Having A Relationship With Yourself.

If We Do Not Change Our Negative Habits Toward Climate Change, We Can Count On Worldwide Disruptions In Food Production, Resulting In Mass Migration, Refugee Crises And Increased Conflict Over Scarce Natural Resources Like Water And Farm Land. This Is A Recipe For Major Security Problems.

Don't Fear The Night Time, Because The Monsters Know That You're Divine. And Don't Fear The Sunshine, Because Everything Is Better In The Summer Time...

We Can Bomb The World To Pieces, But We Can't Bomb It Into Peace.

The Main Thing Is To Be Myself. What I Mean By That Is, To Be Honest When Called Upon To Express Your Feelings. The Other Thing Is - Maybe This Should Come First - To Be A Good Listener. To Close Your Mouth And To Listen, And To Be Able To Echo Back What Your Partner Says To You.

Every Single Soul Is A Poem.

Single Relationship

It's Also Hard For Me To Understand Growing Up Not Knowing Where I Came From. I Searched For My Parents - I Started When I Was Twenty; I Found Both My Mother And My Father When I Was Twenty-two. Trying To Catch Up On Twenty-two Years That We Can Never Get Back, Trying To Reconcile That - That's A Hard Thing For Me.

When We All See Justice, Then We'll All See Peace!

Sometimes The Hardest Thing To Do Is Just To Stay Human.

The Music Industry Has Been Hijacked By Corporate Interests, But The Way Music Affects People And Resonates With Them Hasn't Changed.

I Want To Promote Positivity.

Music Is Also One Of The Great Heart Openers. Sometimes, You Hear The Lyrics Of A Song And You Dance, Laugh, Smile, Or Perhaps Even Cry.

I Went To Iraq Because I Wanted To See What One Year Of Occupation Had Done To Iraqi Society, And I Went To The West Bank And Gaza Strip Because I Wanted To See What Three Generations Of Occupation Had Done To Palestinian Society. I Found A Lot More Hopelessness And Despair In Palestine.

Be Who You Are Nothing More Nothing Less, And Let The Beauty That You Love Be The Very Best. Sing Praises To The Highest With Your Feet On The Ground, And Reach For Your Brother With The Words That You Sound, And Don't Let Mistakes Be So Monumental, And Don't Let Your Love Be So Confidential, And Don't Let Your Mind Be So Darn Judgmental, And Please Let Your Heart Be More Influential. Be Thankful For All The Spirit Provides, And Be Thankful For All That You Can See Without Eyes, Give Thanks To Music That Keeps Us Alive, And Give Thanks To All Djs Worldwide.

You Say You're A Christian, Cause God Made You, You Say You're A Muslim, Cause God Made You, You Say You're A Hindu And The Next Man A Jew, Then We All Kill Each Other, Cause God Told Us To? Nah!..

Today We Are In A War Against War - Music Is Our Power.

My Mother And Father Took Me In And Provided Everything For Me - The Love, Nurturing, Basic Necessities - To Give Me The Space To Grow Wings, So That When I Went Out Into The World, I Could Fly.

I'm A News Junkie Who's Constantly Reading Newspapers And Magazines. I Look Around And See What's Happening In The World.

The Corporate Media Is There To Push The Agenda Of The Sponsors, And Many Of Those Sponsors Are Weapons Manufacturers. So It Stands To Reason That You Won't Get A Diversity Of Opinions On Television.

Whenever People Go Out Of Their Way To Help Other People - There's Power And Beauty In Our Diversity.

It's That Transformative Nature Of Love And Music And Yoga That Really Inspires Me.

My Parents Said Sticks And Stones Will Break Your Bones But Names Will Never Hurt You. But I Always Felt A Sense Of Exhilaration After A Fight; It Was The Names That Really Hurt Me.

I Always Know When A Song Is Good Or Close To Finished. When I Sing It, It Makes Me Feel The Emotion. My Tears Will Start Flowing Or I'll Start Laughing. I'll Start Feeling Whatever Intensity Or Emotion Was The Seed Of That Song.

I've Always Found That The Poorer The Places That I Go, The More Smiles I See, And The More Happiness I See.

I Have A Passion To Make A Difference In The World. And That Difference Can Be Just Making The Fans At My Show Leave With A Smile On Their Face And Feeling Uplifted.

Can't Keep Love Like Money In The Bank

I've Always Wanted To Be A Communicator Of Ideas Through Music. Today, I Wanna Be The Most Effective Musical Communicator Of Social Change I Could Be, So I Try To Find Different Ways To Do It And I'm Always Challenging Myself To Find New Things, Learn New Instruments. But I Always Try To Find In My Heart, What It Is I Really Want To Say With Words.

Music Gets Us In Touch With Our Emotions In A Way That's More Intimate Than Any Other Art Form.

I Think That The Transformative Nature Of Love Is Why We Are So Drawn To It.

Life Is Too Short To Make Just One Decision, Music's Too Loud For Just One Station, Love Is Too Big For Just One Nation, And God Is Too Big For Just One Religion...

Life Is Too Short

Love Is The Action Of Soul Satisfaction.

Every Single Soul Is A Poem, Written On The Back Of God's Hand

Those Who Start Wars, Never Fight Them, And Those Who Fight Wars, They Never Like Them...

Many Kids In Foster Homes Have A Lot Of Emotions That Are Hard To Get Out. It's Important To Let Them Know They Can Make A Difference In The Community.

We Only Have X Amount Of Days And Time On This Planet - How Am I Going To Spend That Time? The Way That I Want To Spend It Is Caring About The People That I Love The Most, And Fighting To Make The World A More Livable Place For Everybody.

God Is Too Big For Just One Religion.

No Life's Worth More Than Any Other, No Sister Worth Less Than Any Brother.

I Went To The University Of San Francisco On An Athletic Scholarship. I Didn't Study In High School. I Was Just There To Get By And To Play Basketball. But A Funny Thing Happened To Me When I Got To College. I Got Challenged By The Work And The Professors.

When Many Little People In Many Little Places Do Many Little Things, Then The Whole World Changes.

Through Music I Either Tame My Demons Or Unleash Them And Allow Them To Be What They Are. I Don't Want The Music To Be About Provocation, I Want The Music To Bring You To A Place Where You Feel At Home

You Learn A Lot When You're Barefoot. The First Thing Is Every Step You Take Is Different.

The Hardest Part About What I Do, The Most Vulnerable Place Is My Relationship With My Family And Sara, My Amazing Partner, Because I'm Leaving A Lot. And As A Touring Artist, I'm Constantly Coming And Going, But Also When I'm At Home, My Studio's At Home. I'm Leaving To Go Into A Music World In My Head.

Every Bit Of Land Is A Holy Land, And Every Drop Of Water Is Holy Water, And Every Single Child Is A Son Or A Daughter Of The One Earth Mama, And The One Earth Papa.

I Believe That In Order To Tackle The Big Issues Of The World Today, Like Environmental Issues, We Need Everybody's Involvement. We Need The Resources Of The Corporate World. We Need The Cooperation Of Governments. We Need The Wisdom Of Indigenous People.

Everyone Deserves Music.

I Think Right Now Is When We Need To Hear Different Voices Coming Out Of All Parts Of The World. You Can't Just Hear The Politicians And The Military Leaders. You Have To Hear From The Taxi Drivers. You Have To Hear From The Painters. You Have To Hear From The Poets. You Have To Hear From The School Teachers And The Filmmakers And Musicians.

All The Freaky People Make The Beauty Of The World.

I Don't Know If Music Can Change The World Overnight But I Know That Music Can Help Someone Make It Through A Difficult Night.

Star Wars Is Mythology. Its Like Greek Mythology Or Shakespeare. Its The Story Of Good Versus Evil Over A Very Long Span Of Time. The Storytelling Is Universal And Timeless.

I Think Of Love As An Action. Finding Something That's Outside Of Yourself, To Serve Someone Else's Soul, Helping To Ignite Someone Else's Spirit, To Bring About Ease Of Heart And Joy, Serenity In Somebody Else.

Music Has The Power To Bring People Together Like No Other Art Form.

One Of The Things I Love About Yoga Is That It Brings You Into The Present Moment. You Aren't Worried About What Will Happen Tomorrow And You Aren't Thinking About What Happened Yesterday. It's About Opening Your Heart And Living From Your Heart.

I Could Be Really Sad And I Start To Cry; I Feel Alive Then. I Could Be At A Concert And I Throw My Hands Up In The Air And I Feel Elation; I Feel Alive Then.

A Lot Of Times We Look At The Whole World And Think, 'it's So Daunting, How Can We Change The Whole World?' And You Don't Need To Do That, What You Need To Do Is Change Your World A Little Bit, And See If You Can, Through Example, Inspire Others To Do The Same Thing.

Sometimes, I Feel Like I Can Do Anything, And, Sometimes, I'm So Alive, Sometimes, I Feel Like I Could Zoom Across The Sky And, Sometimes, I Wanna Cry.

It Doesnt Matter If Youre Black, White, Gay, Straight, Come From Different Countries, Different Language... Every Single Person Is Significant And Is Meaningful.

Johnny Cash Was A Rebel, Not Only Just In The Musical Sense, But He Was Somebody Who Was For The People, And An Advocate For Labor, For Workers, For Prisoners, People Who Have Been Trapped By The Criminal Justice System.

Be Who You Are, Nothing More... Nothing Less.

Having Personal Things In Balance Is More Important Than The Other.

Personal Things

My Goal Has Not Ever Been To Change Minds, My Goal Is To Open Minds.

Power To The Peaceful!

It Was Hard For Me, As A Father, To Imagine Going Through What My Birth Mom Went Through, To Raise A Child Inside Of Her For Nine Months, And Then Have To Say Goodbye. And So It's Hard For Me To Understand That Pain And That Process.

Trending Author

Walter Lippmann

Category