Townes Van Zandt Quotes

Every man regards his own life as the New Year's Eve of time.

I'm hungry in the ways that every artist is, but I also have this extra layer. I've done a lot of things that were consciously not for money, but because I'm so convinced I'm going to die in my mid-30s, I'm like, 'That's not what's important. Doing cool stuff and having that legacy is what's important.'

It's paradoxical, that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone.

I kind of think I'm going to live a long life as a punishment.

I would like, before I die, to see the changes I've always fought for being made. If not, my life will have been worth nothing.

I didn't know I was going to live for 50 years. It has come as a shock.

The modern meaning of life's end-when does it end? How does it end? How should it end? What is the value of life? How do we measure it?

A great man's greatest good luck is to die at the right time.

I hope that on my tombstone it says 'Born 1933, died 2043.' I hope that's my legacy.

I will die, but not retire.

Sooner or later I'm going to die, but I'm not going to retire.

There are all these things I want to accomplish. We never know how long we're going to get.

Facing your own mortality forces you to re-evaluate your priorities.

I'm kind of a morbid person. I'm very optimistic, but I also feel like I'm going to die at any moment. I feel very much aware of my mortality. I'm here, and then I'm not.

Everyone has to die someday. I'd rather die after doing something worthwhile.

As an artist, as a person, I don't want to be here for just a little while.

I need to just give - everything that I do, every single day - my all. I just need to. Life is short. We have one life to live. And I need to be able to push for my kid.

Someone once said that death is God's way of telling you to slow down. I do enjoy what I do, and the secret of my success is the willingness to grind work out.

We're all worm bait waiting to happen. It's what you do while you wait that matters.

To do your own work well, whether it be for life or death.

If work is no antidote to death, nor a denial of it, death is a powerful stimulus to work. Get done what you can.

The secret to a long life is knowin' when it's time to go.

No work begun shall ever pause for death.

What lasting impact will I make on the world and those around me? What will I live my life for? How will I be remembered? I want to leave the world a better place than it was when I got here. I want to experience as much as I can in this very short life that we have.

I do not intend to spare myself, not to avoid emotions or difficulties. I don't care much whether I live a longer or shorter time... the world concerns me only in so far as I feel a certain debt toward it, because I have walked on this earth for thirty years, and out of gratitude I want to leave some souvenir.