All the sounds of the earth are like music.
—Oscar Hammerstein II
You gotta have a dream. If you don’t have a dream, how you gonna make a dream come true?
—Oscar Hammerstein II
Topics: Dreams
The number of people that will not go to a show they don’t want to see is unlimited.
—Oscar Hammerstein II
I know the world is filled with troubles and many injustices. But reality is as beautiful as it is ugly. I think it is just as important to sing about beautiful mornings as it is to talk about slums. I just couldn’t write anything without hope in it.
—Oscar Hammerstein II
Topics: Hope, Beauty
You’ve got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
Of people whose skin is a different shade.
You’ve got to be carefully taught.
—Oscar Hammerstein II
Topics: Tolerance
A bell is no bell ’til you ring it,
A song is no song ’til you sing it,
And love in your heart
Wasn’t put there to stay –
Love isn’t love
‘Til you give it away.
—Oscar Hammerstein II
Topics: Love
Do you love me because I’m beautiful, or am I beautiful because you love me?
—Oscar Hammerstein II
Topics: Beauty
Why you are born and why you are living depend entirely on what you are getting out of this world and what you are giving to it. I cannot prove that this is a balance of mathematical perfection, but my own observation of life leads me to the conclusion that there is a very real relationship, both quantitatively and qualitatively, between what you contribute and what you get out of this world.
—Oscar Hammerstein II
Topics: Health, Optimism, Giving, Positive Attitudes
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
- Stephen Sondheim American Musician
- Ray Charles American Singer
- Keith Richards English Singer
- Igor Stravinsky Russian-born American Composer
- Frank Zappa American Rock Guitarist, Singer, Composer
- Arthur Rubinstein American Pianist
- Arlo Guthrie American Singer
- Gian Carlo Menotti Italian-born American Composer
- John Cage American Composer
- Samuel Lover Irish Writer, Artist, Songwriter
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