Frank Zappa (1940-1993)

Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, songwriter, electric guitarist, conductor, actor, satirist, filmmaker, and activist. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works; he additionally produced nearly all the 60-plus albums he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. His catalog, which predominantly features the electric guitar, is characterized by nonconformity, improvisation, sonic experimentation, musical virtuosity and satire of American culture. Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse musicians of his generation.

Quotes

There is more stupidity then hydrogen in the universe and it has a longer shelf life.
Everybody believes in something and everybody, by virtue of the fact that they believe in something, use that something to support their own existence.
If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want an education, go to a library.
My best advice to anyone who wants to raise a happy, mentally healthy child is: Keep him or her as far away from a church as you can.
I think it is good that books still exist, but they make me sleepy.
There are more love songs than anything else. If songs could make you do something we'd all love one another.
I think it is good that books still exist, but they do make me sleepy.

Books
Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.
Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.

Art
Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read.

Journalism
In the fight between you and the world, back the world.

The World
Communism doesn't work because people like to own stuff.

Communism
The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced.

America, Laws
Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say that there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.
If we were the Monkees, we'd be ready by now.
A composer is a guy who goes around forcing his will on unsuspecting air molecules, often with the assistance of unsuspecting musicians.
Fact of the matter is, there is no hip world, there is no straight world. There's a world, you see, which has people in it who believe in a variety of different things. Everybody believes in something and everybody, by virtue of the fact that they believe in something, use that something to support their own existence.
Stupidity has a certain charm - ignorance does not.
Drop out of school before your mind rots from our mediocre educational system.
I'll give you a simple formula for straightening out the problems of the United States. First, you tax the churches. You take the tax off of capital gains and the tax off of savings. You decriminalize all drugs and tax them same way as you do alcohol. You decriminalize prostitution. You make gambling legal. That will put the budget back on the road to recovery, and you'll have plenty of tax revenue coming in for all of your social programs, and to run the army.