I Learned By Transcribing Songs Out Of

I Think These Are Very Improper Questions For Any American To Be Asked, Especially Under Such Compulsion As This. I Would Be Very Glad To Tell You My Life If You Want To Hear Of It.

I Have To Resist The Temptation To Want To Learn Everything. You Know, You Can't. You Have To Restrict Yourself At Some Time, Or Else You Find Yourself Just Being Spread Too Thin. And Already I Think I Try Too Many Things.

If There's A World Here In A Hundred Years, It's Going To Be Saved By Tens Of Millions Of Little Things. The Powers-that-be Can Break Up Any Big Thing They Want. They Can Corrupt It Or Co-opt It From The Inside, Or They Can Attack It From The Outside. But What Are They Going To Do About 10 Million Little Things? They Break Up Two Of Them, And Three More Like Them Spring Up!

When I Am Chopping Trees Out In The Woods Because I Heat My House With Wood, I Feel Myself Right In The Middle Of God. Mahalia Jackson Said "i Have Seen God. I Have Seen The Sun Rise." So, In A Sense, When Anyone Looks In The Mirror, They Look At An Infinitesimally Small Part Of God.

I Learned By Transcribing Songs Out Of The Library Of Congress Collection In Washington Where I Was Working. I Got A Job When I Just Turned Twenty In 1939 And Alan [lomax] Needed Some Help. I Listened To Hundreds Of Records Every Week.