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When I Was Growing Up, Nashville Was The Place To Go If You Had Songs To Sell And Thought You Had Talent And Wanted To Tour And Be On Grand Ole Opry [radio Show]. It Was The Big Deal Back In Those Days To Play The Grand Ole Opry. And You Could Travel Around The World Saying, "hi, I'm Willie From The Grand Ole Opry".

-Willie Nelson

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When I Was Growing

Willie Nelson

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When I Was Growing Up, Nashville Was The Place To Go If You Had Songs To Sell And Thought You Had Talent And Wanted To Tour And Be On Grand Ole Opry [radio Show]. It Was The Big Deal Back In Those Days To Play The Grand Ole Opry. And You Could Travel Around The World Saying, "hi, I'm Willie From The Grand Ole Opry".

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I Was In The Air Force A While And They Had What They Call "policing The Area." That's Where You Looked Around And If There's Anything Wrong Here, There, Anywhere, You Took Care Of Your Own Area. And I Think That's A Pretty Good Thing To Go By. If Everyone Just Takes Care Of Their Own Area Then We Won't Have Any Problems. Be Here. Be Present. Wherever You Are, Be There. And Look Around You And See What Needs To Be Changed.

My Sister Played The Piano. She’s Two Years Older Than Me, And I Always Wanted To Play Something. So My Grandmother Got The Guitar For Me, And Showed Me A Couple Of Chords To Start Off. And Then I Got Me A Book. Next Thing You Know, I Was Playing Along With Sister.

In The Twilight Glow I See Her, Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain. As We Kissed Goodbye And Parted, I Knew We'd Never Meet Again.

(songwriting) It's A Gift. It All Comes From Somewhere. I Started Out Really Young, When I Was Four, Five, Six, Writing Poems, Before I Could Play An Instrument. I Was Writing About Things When I Was Eight Or 10 Years Old That I Hadn't Lived Long Enough To Experience.

Gatewood Galbraith Was A Good Friend, And A Tireless Advocate For The Repeal Of The Ridiculous Ban On Hemp & Marijuana. His Book ‘the Last Free Man Standing’ Says It All.

Where I Grew Up, Bob Wills And His Western Swing Was Very Popular. And Western Swing Is Not That Far From Jazz And Blues.

You Know Why Divorces Are So Expensive? They're Worth It.

When I Started Counting My Blessings, My Whole Life Turned Around.

We're Still Here Trying To Get The Word Out That 330 Farmers Are Quitting Every Week.

I See This [biodiesel] As A Way For The Farmer To Grow Fuel And Food And Put Him Back In Business Again

You Don't Have To Be Poor To Need Something Or Somebody.

After Every Tour, I Think About Hanging Up The Touring Hat, And After A While Of Not Working, I'm Ready To Play. I Think I Enjoy Playing Music More Than I Enjoy Not Playing Music.

If You Got The Money Honey I Got The Time And When You Run Out Of Money Honey I Run Out Of Time.

Three Chords And The Truth - That's What A Country Song Is.

I'm From Texas, And One Of The Reasons I Like Texas Is Because There's No One In Control.

I Learned Some Invaluable Lessons In Nashville That Apply To Both Farming And Show Business: Do Not Corner Something You Know Is Meaner Than You; Keep Skunks Of All Kinds At A Distance; If You Forgive Your Enemies, It Messes Up Their Heads.

More And More People Are Finding Out The Benefits Of It - Hemp And Marijuana. The More They Delve Into It And Research It, The More They Realize, Hey Wait A Minute, We Should Give This Another Look.

I Wanted To Connect All People Who Are Thinking About Peace On Earth.

If You Can Be Content Right Now, Then You'll Always Be Content, Because It's Always Right Now.

Those People Out There Like Good Music. They Don't Stop And Ask Themselves, 'is It Country Or Rock And Roll?' If They Like It, They Will Tell You.

I Got Along Without You Before I Met You And I'll Get Along Without You A Long Time After You're Gone.

Before I Met You

Oh, I Think It's Definitely Spiritual. All Music Is. I Think It's Maybe One Of The Highest Forms Of Spirituality.

The First Time I Got Onstage Was When I Was About 5 Years Old. It Was At A Church Social, And I Had A Poem To Recite.

I Don't Remember Moses Writing, 'thou Shalt Not Kill.. Unless You Think You Have A Good Reason.

When Songs Fall From The Sky, All I Can Do Is Catch Them Before They Hit The Ground.

Waylon Jennings And I Had A Lot Of Fun Recording Together.

Well The Country Songs Themselves Are Three-chord Stories, Ballads Which Are Mostly Sad. If You Are Already Feeling Sorry For Yourself When You Listen To Them They Will Take You To An Even Sadder Place.

Small Family Farmers Are The Only Things That Can Save Us Because They Take Care Of The Land. Future Farmers Of America Are Going To Be Our Heroes. Same With Biodiesel, Either Way We Need Small Family Saustainable And Organic Farmers.

I Think Innately Knew That Music Draws People Together And That Good Music Is Liked By Almost Everybody.

Sadly, There Are More Wild Horses In Holding Pens Than In The Wild.

There's So Many Things Going On In The World, Babies Dying. Mothers Crying. How Much Oil Is One Human Life Worth. And What Ever Happened To Peace On Earth.

If A Song Was Ever Good, It's Still Good.

When I Was Growing Up, Nashville Was The Place To Go If You Had Songs To Sell And Thought You Had Talent And Wanted To Tour And Be On Grand Ole Opry [radio Show]. It Was The Big Deal Back In Those Days To Play The Grand Ole Opry. And You Could Travel Around The World Saying, "hi, I'm Willie From The Grand Ole Opry".

Rather Than Trying To Put An End To Eminem Or Some Other Rapper, Politicians Should Think About Why They're Rapping. It's Easier To Try To Censor Some Kid Who's Swearing About Poverty Than It Is To Stop The Poverty.

You Will Never Find Happiness Until You Stop Looking For It.

Finding Happiness

Just Because She's Leaving, Don't Start Believing, That Your Rock And Roll Days Are Gone.

If You’re Not Crazy There’s Something Wrong With You. Willie Nelson

Be Gentle With Your Words - You Can't Take Them Back.

Be Here. Be Present. Wherever You Are, Be There.

Wherever You Are

When I Left Nashville I Went To Texas Because That's Where I Came From, And Because I Was Playing In Texas A Lot In Different Places. And I Saw Hippies And Rednecks Drinking Beer Together And Smoking Dope Together And Having A Good Time Together And I Knew It Was Possible To Get All Groups Of People Together - Long Hair, Short Hair, No Hair - And Music Would Bring Them Together.

I Think People Need To Be Educated To The Fact That Marijuana Is Not A Drug. Marijuana Is An Herb And A Flower. God Put It Here. If He Put It Here And He Wants It To Grow, What Gives The Government The Right To Say That God Is Wrong?

I Still Probably Smoke As Much As I Ever Did!

The Fight To Save Family Farms Isn't Just About Farmers. It's About Making Sure That There Is A Safe And Healthy Food Supply For All Of Us. It's About Jobs, From Main Street To Wall Street. It's About A Better America.

It Doesn't Hurt To Feel Sad From Time To Time.

My First Job Was In A Bohemian Polka Band, The Rejcek Family Polka Band In Abbott. The Old Man In The Band Had Another Blacksmith Shop In Abbott, But He Liked Me. All He Had Was Horns And Drums, And I Was Set Up Over There With My Little Guitar With No Amps Or Nothing. I Would Play As Loud As I Wanted To, And Nobody Could Hear Me.

You Can't Hang A Man For Shooting A Woman Who Was Trying To Steal His Horse.

If You've Made Your Own Hell, Then Only You Have The Power To Escape It.

I Think Hemp Is One Of The Greatest Plants That God Put In The Ground, And I Don't Think Anybody Has The Right To Eradicate It. Just Because Somebody Wants To Get High With A Joint, That's No Reason To Throw Him In Jail And Take His Damn Belongings. He's Just Trying To Get Well. The Mother - 's Sick. That's Why People Drink Beer When They Come Home From Work. They're Stressed Out. That's All Grass Does. It's A Big Stress Reliever.

The Whole House Came Up And I Came Up With It... I Was Just Praying To The Lord To Take Care Of Me.

I Live One Day At A Time, One Day At A Time. Yesterday's Gone And Tomorrow Is Blind, So I Live One Day At A Time.

One Day At A Time

My Granddaddy Died When I Was About 6 Years Old, I Think. And My Grandmother Took A Job Cooking In The School Lunchroom. So She Did Great. She Made $18 A Week.

Little Things I Should Have Said And Done I Just Never Took The Time You Were Always On My Mind

Always On My Mind

We Create Our Own Unhappiness. The Purpose Of Suffering Is To Help Us Understand We Are The Ones Who Cause It.

Inside Every Cowboy There's A Lady Who'd Love To Slip Out.

I Think It Is Just Terrible And Disgusting How Everyone Has Treated Lance Armstrong, Especially After What He Achieved Winning Seven Tour De France Races While On Drugs......when I Was On Drugs I Couldn't Even Find My Bike.

There's A Lot Of Money In Selling Marijuana. If You Can Do It Legally, That's Good. Why Should All The Criminals Make The Money? This Is What People Are Thinking. If It's Happening, If It's Going To Be Legal, Let's Tax It And Regulate It, Like We Do With Everything Else And Make Some Money Off This. I Think That's One Reason Why People Are Talking This A Little More Seriously.

You Can't Make A Record If You Ain't Got Nothin' To Say.

Every Now And Then I'll Think Of Something To Put Back In The Show. I Just Kind Of Play It Off The Top Of My Head. If I Do It That Way It Keeps It Kinda Fresh.

I Have More Dumb Luck Thank Anybody I Know. There Must Be A Convey Of Guardian Angels Working Twenty-four Hours A Day Looking After Me[...] Like The Night I First Got To Nashville That I Laid Down In The Middle Of Broadway, Waiting To Get Run Over. It Didn't Happen [...] I Could Swear They Were Keeping Me Alive Just To See What I'd Get Next, I'm Glad They Feel That Way. I'm Trying To Help Them A Little More This Days.

I'm An Old Fashioned Joint Smoker Ya Know.

I Like Myself Better When I'm Writing Regularly. ... I Was Influenced A Lot By Those Around Me-there Was A Lot Of Singing That Went On In The Cotton Fields. ... I'm A Country Songwriter And We Write Cry-in-your-beer Songs. That's What We Do. Something That You Can Slow Dance To...i Never Gave Up On Country Music Because I Knew What I Was Doing Was Not That Bad. ... Most Of The Stuff I've Read About Me Has Been True.

I Think There Must Be Safety In Numbers. If You F - Up Enough Times, They Forget Which One You Really Did. They Start Thinking, "well, Nobody Can Be That Bad."

Love Is Like A Dying Ember, Only Memories Remain.

I'm A Little Prejudiced When It Comes To Horses. I Have Always Loved Them.

As Long As There's A Few Farmers Out There, We'll Keep Fighting For Them.

When I See Someone I Think Is Cool, He's A Pretty Well-adjusted Individual. He's Not Too Affected One Way Or The Other By What's Happening, No Matter What's Going Through His Mind.

I Take It Not Only A Day At A Time, But A Moment At A Time, And Keep It At That Pace. If You Can Be Happy Right Now, Then You’ll Always Be Happy, Because It’s Always In The Now

Always Be Happy

Freedom Is Control In Your Own Life.

Do Something Bad A Thousand Times And It's No Big Deal. Everyone Just Goes, "willie F - Up Again."

If You Go To A Magic Show, You Don't Want To See Logic.

I'm Drowning In Whiskey River.

There Are Only So Many Notes So There Must Be Only So Many Melodies.

One Thing I Learned Is That The Mind, Rather Than Being The Master, Should Be The Servant Of The Heart.

Writing Books Is Fun Because After I Do A Show For A Couple Hours, I'm In A Bus For 22 Hours. It's Not Hard For Me To Look Out The Window And Tell A Joke Here And There.

America, To Me, Is Freedom.

I Believe In Looseness.

Vaporizers Are Good For Your Lungs. Cigarette Smoke Will Kill You. I Never Heard Of Anybody Dying From Marijuana Smoke. Vaporizers I Think Are Smarter.

Cigarette Smoke

When I'm Driving The Highway By Myself Is When I Write Best.

Once You Replace Negative Thoughts With Positive Ones, You'll Start Having Positive Results.

If You Really Want To Get Along With Somebody, Let Them Be Themselves.

I Been A Long Time Leaving But I'm Going To Be A Long Time Gone.

I Like Myself Better When I'm Writing Regularly.

I Started Writing Cheating Songs When I Was Too Young To Have Any Idea What I Was Writing About - Broken Hearts And Things Like That. I Just Think It Was Something I Already Knew, Something I Had Experienced In Another Lifetime.

How Would You Like To Bite That In The Ass, Develop Lock Jaw And Be Dragged To Death?

We Are The Same. There Is No Difference Anywhere In The World. People Are People. They Laugh, Cry, Feel, And Love, And Music Seems To Be The Commons Denomination That Brings Us All Together. Music Cuts Through All Boundaries And Goes Right To The Soul.

Fortunately, We Are Not In Control.

When You Hear Me, You Know It's Me, Regardless Of The Song.

Gay Or Straight? So What? It Doesn't Matter To Me. We Have To Be Concerned About Other People Regardless.

I Think Most Art Comes Out Of Poverty And Hard Times.

I'm Crazy For Trying, Crazy For Crying, And I'm Crazy For Loving You.

There Are More Serious Problems In Life Than Financial Ones, And I’ve Had A Lot Of Those. I’ve Been Broke Before, And Will Be Again.

Family Farmers Are Small Farmers Who Love The Land. They're Still Not Getting Enough Money For Their Product And Are Rapidly Losing Their Battle To Stay In Business. By Helping The American Family Farmer, We Will In Turn Help Ourselves Out Of The Economic Hole That We Find Ourselves In Today. It Doesn't Really Matter How We Got Here; The Point Is, We Have To Dig Our Way Out.

As Far As Advice Goes, An Ex-father In Law Of Mine Once Gave Me The Best Advice I Ever Heard. He Said, "take My Advice And Do What You Want To." So With That, Go On.

Indecision May Or May Not Be Our Biggest Problem.

My Doctor Tells Me I Should Start Slowing It Down - But There Are More Old Drunks Than There Are Old Doctors So Let's All Have Another Round.

Biodiesel Seems To Be The Answer To A Lot Of Our Prayers. Not Only Can It Help The U.s. Economy, Our Unwanted Dependence On Foreign Oil, And The Gasping Environment, It Could Also Help The Family Farmers Out Of This Tragic Dilemma They Have Found Themselves In Through No Fault Of Their Own.

Be Careful What You Dream: Soon Your Dreams Will Be Dreaming You.

I Use Vaporizers A Lot. It Cuts Down On The Heat And The Smoke. And For A Singer That's Not A Bad Idea.

God Has Blessed You Richly, So Get Down On Your Knees And Thank Him. Don’t Forget The Less Fortunate Or God Will Personally Kick Your Ass. I’d Love To Do It For Him, But I Can’t Be Everywhere.

It's An Ongoing Problem, An Ongoing Situation, Life Is. It's Just Life, And It Never Stops And It Never Will. You Just Be Thankful For What You've Got, And Move On.

If You Want To Make Marijuana Legal, You've Got To Stay Straight Long Enough To F - Vote.

A Lot Of Guns There's No Need For Civilians To Own Those Those Are For Military

Sometimes There Is A 36-piece Orchestra Going Off In My Stomach.

You Could Try To Live Monogamously. Good Luck.

Just Take What You Need From The Ladies And Leave Them.

I Didn't Come Here And I Ain't Leavin'.

You'll Never Get Ahead By Blaming Your Problems On Other People.

As Adults We Try To Relax From The Never-ending Quest For Reason And Order By Drinking A Little Whiskey Or Smoking Whatever Works For Us, But The Wisdom Isn't In The Whiskey Or The Smoke. The Wisdom Is In The Moments When The Madness Slips Away And We Remember The Basics.

There Are More Old Drunks Than There Are Old Doctors.

What Goes Around, Comes Around.

A Lot Of Country Music Is Sad.

Americans Don't Eat Horses. They Are Not Raised As Food Animals And They Are Treated With Chemicals That Render Them Unsafe For Consumption. The Regulations Needed To Change Their Status To "food Animals" Would Cripple Every Aspect Of The Horse Industry As We Know It. Plus, It Would Be Wrong.

Nothing Lasts Forever, But Old Fords And A Natural Stone.

When I Was Out In The Bars Drinking And Fighting I Was A Little Bit Less Of A Peacemaker Than I Would Be If I'd Had A Coupla Hits Of A Joint And Gone And Laid Down Somewhere.

I Believe That All Roads Lead To The Same Place - And That Is Wherever All Roads Lead To.

Anybody Can Be Unhappy. We Can All Be Hurt. You Don't Have To Be Poor To Need Something Or Somebody. Rednecks, Hippies, Misfits - We're All The Same. Gay Or Straight? So What? It Doesn't Matter To Me. We Have To Be Concerned About Other People, Regardless.

Like Anything Else, You Can Use The Internet For Good Or Ill. You Can Get Out Of It What You Want To. There's No Evil About It. The Way I See It, It's A Liberation.

Most Of The Stuff I've Read About Me Has Been True.

I Never Gave Up On Country Music Because I Knew What I Was Doing Was Not That Bad.

I Don’t Believe In Adhering To Any Rules I Don’t Support And I Didn’t Vote For. To Hell With What People Think. Just Be Who You Are And You’ll Be Happy.

Ninety-nine Percent Of The World's Lovers Are Not With Their First Choice. That's What Makes The Jukebox Play.

Just Can't Wait To Get On The Road Again

I Would Like To See More Airplay For All Artists, No Matter What Age. I Think There's A Lot Of Money Being Spent Toward The Young Guys, But A Lot Of The Older Guys Are The Ones Who Blazed The Trail For Those Young Guys.

Well, It's A Bloody Mary Morning, My Baby Left Without Warning.

Let's Get The Government Stay Out Of Our Private Lives, Once And For All, And Stop Arresting Smokers. Let's Take A Stand For Personal Freedom.

Personal Freedom

If You Start Out Looking At Somebody, Wondering Whether He's Good Or Bad, I Think You're Starting Out In The Wrong Direction. I Think We're All Good And We're All Bad.

When I Would Sell Encyclopedias, I Would Drive Down The Road Looking For A House With A Swing Set In The Back, And I'd Say, "oh, Those Folks Got Kids. They Need Some Books." I'd Knock On Their Door And Sell Them A Set Of Encyclopedias, And Those Books Were From $300 To $600. I'd Look Around The House, And If There Wasn't That Much Furniture In The House, I Felt A Little Bad About Selling A $600 Set Of Books To People Who Couldn't Afford A Couch. So I Didn't Last At That Job Very Long.

I Had Gotten Up To Two, Maybe Three, Packs (of Cigarettes) A Day. And My Lungs Were Bothering Me And I'd Had Pneumonia Two Or Three Times. And I Was Also Smoking Pot, And I Decided, Well, One Of Them's Got To Go. And So I Took A Pack Of Chesterfields And Took All The Chesterfields Out, Rolled Up 20 Big Fat Ones And Put It In There, And I Haven't Smoked A Cigarette Since Then.

I Got In At 2 With A 10, And Woke Up At 10 With A 2.

I've Known Straight And Gay People All My Life. I Can't Tell The Difference... But I'd Never Marry A Guy I Didn't Like.

I'm Drinking Doubles Now That You're Running Around Single Again.

When You're Singing, You're Using Extra Muscles, And It Requires A Lot Of Exercise And Breathing. You Can't Do That If You're A Sissy. If I Have Any Fitness Advice For People, I'd Tell Them To Sing More. It's Good Therapy, Too.

There Are Just Certain Sounds, Music, That Sort Of You Know People Are Going To Like It.

I Just Enjoy Both Working And Not Working.

The Biggest Killer On The Planet Is Stress And I Still Think The Best Medicine Is And Always Has Been Cannabis.

I Think The Best Exercise That I Do Is Singing For An Hour-and-a-half Out On The Stage, Because, Yes, I Use The Lung, The Biggest Muscle In Your Body.

I Don't Smoke As Many Joints As I Used To.

There's A Freedom You Begin To Feel The Closer You Get To Austin, Texas.

I Like To Play Small Clubs.

What Has Changed Is That Nothing Has Changed... That's What Has Made Me More Unhappy Than Everything Else.

I Was Influenced A Lot By Those Around Me - There Was A Lot Of Singing That Went On In The Cotton Fields.

I Don't Think Any Person Has Any Special Knowledge About What God Has Planned For Me And You Any More Than Me And You Do.

Whoever Supports The Farmer Is The Guy For America.

It Was And Is Always Nice To Work With The Kids.

I Like Marijuana Because It Keeps Me From Killing People. And I Think There Are A Lot Of People Out There Who Are Just Like Me. The Reason It's Not Legal Is Because Most People Get Up In The Morning And Get High, Then Forget To Go Out And Vote For It.

Let The Jerks Of The World Serve As The Perfect Example Of What You Don't Want To Be. You'll Be A Heck Of A Lot Happier, And In The Long Run, There's A Chance That Other Person At Work Will End Up Asking What Your Secret Is. Why Are You The Happy One? In Other Words, Don't Let Your Thoughts Think You. Besides, If You're Really Gonna Get Pissed, Don't Waste It On Your Family, Friends, Or Coworkers, Save It For Something That Really Matters.

I Started Learning My Lessons In Abbot Texas, Where I Was Born In 1933. My Sister Bobbie And I Were Raised By Our Grandparents [...] We Never Had Enough Money, And Bobbie And I Started Working At An Early Age To Help The Family Get By. That Hard Work Included Picking Cotton. [...] Picking Cotton Is Hard And Painful Work, And The Most Lasting Lesson I Learned In The Fields Was That I Didn't Want To Spend My Life Picking Cotton.

My Wife Actually Got Worried About My Drinking So Much Regular Milk, You Know, So She Got Me Into Rice Milk And Now Soy Milk, Which I Greatly Enjoy. A Soy Mocha's A Fine Thing.

Marijuana Is Like Sex. If I Don't Do It Every Day, I Get A Headache. I Think Marijuana Should Be Recognized For What It Is, As A Medicine, An Herb That Grows In The Ground. If You Need It, Use It.

Songwriters Might Write Cynical, World-wise Lyrics And Constantly Talk About Money, But Most Of Us Are Downright Naive When It Comes To Business.

The Life I Love Is Making Music With My Friends.

My Fans Are Very Forgiving. So Are My Wives And My Kids.

...when You Put Your Life In A Good Place, Good Things Follow.

If You Wait For Tomorrow To Follow Your Dreams, By The Time That You Get There They're Gone.

There Is Only One Map To The Journey Of Life And It Lives Within Your Heart

Horses Were A Way To Travel To Get To Where We Are Today, And It Is Our Job To Protect Them.

I Smoke Pot Every Day, And I Love It!

A Lot Of Country Music Is Sad. I Think Most Art Comes Out Of Poverty And Hard Times. It Applies To Music. Three Chords And The Truth - That’s What A Country Song Is. There Is A Lot Of Heartache In The World.

When Evolution Has Been Outlawed, Only The Outlaws Will Evolve.

And As Far As Guitars Go, I Loved Jimmy Bryant And Speedy West's Stuff.

On The Road Again, Goin' Places That I've Never Been. Seein' Things That I May Never See Again, And I Can't Wait To Get On The Road Again.

In Church I Was Told That If I So Much As Smoked A Cigarette Or Tasted Alcohol, I’d Be Damned In Hell For All Eternity... It Didn’t Take Long For Me To Start Thinking That Sounded All Wrong... I Didn’t Cotton To The Idea That Your Religion Should Be Flaunted To Other People. Your Religion Is For You, And Is Best Kept Close To Your Heart.

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