Jim Morrison (1943-1971)

James Douglas Morrison was an American singer-songwriter and poet who was the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his charismatic persona, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, and unpredictable performances, along with the dramatic circumstances surrounding his life and early death, Morrison is regarded by music critics and fans as one of the most influential frontmen in rock history. Since his death, his fame has endured as one of popular culture's top rebellious and oft-displayed icons, representing the generation gap and youth counterculture.

Quotes

I'm a word man. See, there's this theory about the nature of tragedy, that Aristotle didn't mean catharsis for the audience but a purgation of emotions for the actors themselves. The audience is just a witness to the event taking place on stage.
If my poetry aims to achieve anything, it's to deliver people from the limited ways in which they see and feel.
I'm kind of hooked to the game of art and literature; my heroes are artists and writers.
I think the highest and lowest points are the important ones. Anything else is just...in between. I want the freedom to try everything.
I think of myself as an intelligent, sensitive human with the soul of a clown, which always forces me to blow it at the most important moments.
We're like actors, turned loose in this world to wander in search of a phantom, endlessly searching for a half formed shadow of our lost reality. When others demand that we become the people they want us to be, they force us to destroy the person we really are. It's a subtle kind of murder. The most loving parents and relatives commit this murder with smiles on their faces.
Some people surrender their freedom willingly but others are forced to surrender it. Imprisonment begins with birth. Society, parents they refuse to allow you to keep the freedom you were born with. There are subtle ways to punish a person for daring to feel. You see that everyone around you has destroyed his true feeling nature. You imitate what you see.
Is everybody in? Is everybody in? Is everybody in? The ceremony is about to begin.
I am the lizard king. I can do anything.
When others demand that we become the people they want us to be, they force us to destroy the person we really are. It's a subtle kind of murder. The most loving parents and relatives commit this murder with smiles on their faces.
Drugs are a bet with your mind.
Death makes angels of us all and gives us wings where we had shoulders smooth as raven's claws.
Hatred is a very underestimated emotion.

Hatred
I think of myself as an intelligent, sensitive human being with the soul of a clown which always forces me to blow it at the most important moments.
Death is only going to happen to you once; I don't want to miss it.
Some of the worst mistakes of my life have been haircuts.
Violence isn't always evil. What's evil is the infatuation with violence.
Let's just say I was testing the bounds of society. I was just curious.
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.
I like any reaction I can get with my music. Just anything to get people to think. I mean if you can get a whole room full of drunk, stoned people to actually wake up and think, you're doing something.