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: Optimism, Positive Attitudes, Giving, Health
All the sounds of the earth are like music.
—Oscar Hammerstein II
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
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: Beauty, Hope
Do you love me because I’m beautiful, or am I beautiful because you love me?
—Oscar Hammerstein II
Topics: Beauty
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
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
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