Maynard James Keenan famous quotes

A circle is the reflection of eternity. It has no beginning and it has no end - and if you put several circles over each other, then you get a spiral.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Music #Reflection #Circles

I believe that when you go into a gallery or a museum, the most powerful pieces are the ones that don't have the words in the corner that distract you from the larger piece.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Powerful #Believe #Museums

Just in general, any government throughout history hasn't really wanted its people to be educated, because then they couldn't control them as easily.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Government #People #Educated

I'm not an educated man. I only know what I'm told, and I'm not told that much; I have no frame of reference for how to place things in history be a responsible leader. All I can do is be an artist.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Men #Artist #Leader

This sort of behavior is left to the psychotic, dogmatic, fundamentalist believers you see on your TV everyday letting off bombs and killing people in the name of God. Beliefs are dangerous. Beliefs allow the mind to stop functioning. A non-functioning mind is clinically dead. Believe in nothing.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Believe #Names #People

All I can do is say I smell a rat. I don't know where it is or what kind of rat it is, but as an artist, I can express how. But I couldn't responsibly stand up and tell people which way to go, because then I'm just as guilty as the people who are telling everybody else what to do and where to go.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Artist #Smell #People

Every now and then, you get people who tend to forget what this country is about, which is a melting pot of races and cultures and freedom of speech.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Country #Race #People

Music is about listening, the more you play, the more the magic spreads.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Play #Listening #Magic

Beliefs are dangerous. Beliefs allow the mind to stop functioning. A non-functioning mind is clinically dead. Believe in nothing.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Atheist #Believe #Mind

Shows are really strange. Sometimes you really don't know what to expect
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Strange #Sometimes #Shows

Because artists can be extremely eccentric and insane, and unfortunately, the people they hurt the most are the people that are closest to them.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Hurt #Artist #People

Repugnant is a creature who would squander the ability To lift an eye to heaven, conscious of his fleeting time here
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Eye #Heaven #Fleeting Time

I believe that music is a force in itself. It is there and it needs an outlet, a medium. In a way, we are just the medium.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Believe #Needs #Way

If you take different mythologies from different cultures, the names may change and the story lines may vary but there is always something in common.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Names #Stories #Lines

There are people who are like monkeys in a cage just hitting the coke button. They don't really get that for [musicians and artists] to do these things, they have to fund them. They have to have something to pay the rent.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Artist #People #Musician

Adam does most of the work when it comes to videos and he basically does the same as I do with the lyrics. The videos are his visual interpretations of our music.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Doe #Video #Interpretation

I think the Grammys are nothing more than some gigantic promotional machine for the music industry. They cater to a low intellect and they feed the masses. They don't honor the arts or the artist for what he created. It's the music business celebrating itself.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Art #Thinking #Honor

I would hope they would be our fellow artists, rather than trying to emulate or idolize clowns like us.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Unique #Artist #Trying

Once you take yourself too seriously the art will suffer.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Art #Suffering

Knuckle deep inside the borderline. This may hurt a little but it's something you'll get used to. Relax. Slip away.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Hurt #Relax #May

A lot of names in America and Europe have their roots in Latin and Greek words. A lot of them go back to archetypes and their stories.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Latin #Europe #Names

One of my biggest heroes in music has been David Bowie. He's said, `I'm going to be a painter now, or I'm going to do some films,' and his audience is very forgiving, because they understand him as an artist. Whether you agree or like the result, you respect that he's expressing his artistic feelings.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Hero #Artist #Feelings

The process that we go through in recording with Tool is very organic, but at the same time it is very thought out. There is a very left-brain process of dissecting what we're doing and drawing from source material; it's very research oriented and esoteric.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Drawing #Brain #Tools

One of the challenges we set up for 'Puscifer' was to come up with a core identity and see how far we can push it.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Challenges #Identity #Come Up

It's the role of us to run our government, the government by the people, for the people, and I don't think our government is listening to the people. It's our role as patriots to question them, because we elected them. And if they're not fairly and accurately representing us, it's the job of the people, the patriots, to take their country back.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Running #Country #Jobs

I'm a pessimist. But I'm a pessimist with a sense of responsibility.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Responsibility #Pessimist #Sense Of Responsibility

I just hope that our fans are people who are inspired by music, and just use our music as a background or inspiration for whatever it is they do.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Inspiration #People #Use

If the education of our kids comes from radio, television, newspapers - if that's where they get most of their knowledge from, and not from the schools, then the powers that be are definitely in charge, because they own all those outlets.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Education #Kids #School

Nowadays, you have to sell, like, half a million or a million records just to break even.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Half #Records #Break

But you know, I'm the negative-Nancy, curmudgeon, glass-half-empty-with-a-leak-in-it guy - which is basically the fuel that fires me up anyway. Without that, we wouldn't have me.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Fire #Glasses #Guy

Everything we release with Tool is inspired by our music.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Tools #Inspired #Release

We're five people, five individuals who came together to create something, to make music and to complete each other musically, to form a perfect circle.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Circles #Perfect #People

The record company's worst fear is that you'll fall in love or get rich.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Falling In Love #Records #Rich

I've always had an affinity for growing things.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Growing #Affinity

I can't be a legend yet. I'm not dead.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Legends

Yeah, because I think it's more important just to inspire people to wake up one day and pick up a book and start feeling it out for themselves.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Book #Thinking #People

I think the biggest problem working with me would be that I'm an only child, and so I have an internal dialogue that goes on that I just assume you can hear.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Children #Thinking #Only Child

Actors have these delicate appendages called Egos.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Ego #Actors #Delicate

Everything revolves around the music when it comes to Tool.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Tools

You know, I grew up listening to Joni Mitchell.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Listening #Grew #Grew Up

Cold silence has a tendency to atrophy any sense of compassion between supposed lovers
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Compassion #Silence #Lovers

I always knew that I wanted to be an artist.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Artist #Wanted

Put a small child in a playpen with an apple and a bunny. If s/he eats the apple and plays with the bunny, s/he's normal;but if s/he eats the bunny and plays with the apple, I'll buy you a new car. Somewhere along the line we must have been TAUGHT to do the wrong thing.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Children #Animal #Play

You can grow grapes in almost any part of the world. You just have to develop your palate enough to realize wine is an expression of the place where you make it. You don't have to take over the world; just be an artist and express your area.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Wine #Artist #Expression

Standing above the crowd, He had a voice so strong and loud And I swallowed his façade 'cause I'm so Eager to identify with Someone above the ground, Someone who seemed to feel the same, Someone prepared to lead the way, with Someone who would die for me.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Strong #Voice #Atheism

If you want to get your soul to heaven, trust in me. Don't judge or question. You are broken now, but faith can heal you. Just do everything I tell you to do.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Judging #Broken #Heaven

Choices always were a problem for you. What you need is someone strong to guide you. Deaf and blind and dumb and born to follow, what you need is someone strong to use you - like me.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Strong #Choices #Dumb

It's a purging of sorts. Like, when you're all done doing your laundry and it's fresh and bright, but washing the clothes, you wouldn't want to get in while it's spinning around.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Clothes #Want #Spinning

You really should be able to feel the higher power of music and be moved by it, rather than listening to me waffle on and having to explain it.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Listening #Waffles #Able

The army influences everything I do. Certainly it teaches you discipline, which is a necessary element of development. I think there's more of a collaborative understanding in the band because of that.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Army #Thinking #Discipline

Reading is more of a left-brain process, and listening to music is a right-brain function.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Reading #Brain #Listening

It's in my blood. My great-grandfather made wine and it's a tradition I want to pass on to my son.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Wine #Son #Blood

Life feeds on life... feeds on life feeds on life... this is neccesary... this is necessary life feeds on life... feeds on life
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Atheism

People have to follow their hearts, and if their hearts lead them to Wal-Mart, so be it.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Funny Inspirational #Heart #People

Sure, I love fairy tales.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Doubt #Atheism #Fairy Tale

Novell has the necessary resources to be a much more profitable enterprise but it currently lacks the vision, strategy and execution to produce respectable returns.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Vision #Return #Execution

There were a lot of choices to make and I always picked artist. I never once picked doctor, lawyer, firemen or something like that. It was always artist.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Artist #Doctors #Choices

We're just four guys and we are enjoying what we're doing with Tool.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Guy #Four #Tools

Prescott National Forest is right on the edge of my home in Arizona.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Home #Forests #Arizona

Most religious stories and mythologies have some sort of similar root, some sort of global archetypes.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Religious #Roots #Stories

I think the media made Manson, turned him into some larger than life figure and surrounded him with mystery and some shady glamour.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Thinking #Media #Style

Actually I never did stand up. I'm not that funny.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Funny

A lot of people into Tool, for some reason, are not interested in humor.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#People #Tools #Reason

I'm a lot easier to work with now than I have been in the past, for sure.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Past #Easier

After all, in today's music scene every band seems to steal from other bands.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Band #Today #Stealing

I think people in general have neglected to learn about history.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Thinking #People #Neglected

I see a lot of patterns in our behavior as a nation that parallel a lot of other historical processes.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Historical #Patterns #Behavior

But I'm a hot-blooded Italian by nature. Whatever the situation you present, I'm going to make something out of it.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Italian #Hot #Situation

The idea is, if I can't heal from my art, then how can you heal?
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Art #Ideas #Heal

For me, life is writing and I can do it anywhere. It doesn't matter where I am. I listen. I write. I live.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Inspirational Life #Writing #Matter

I think there's a reason why wine figures into so many religions. There's something transcendent about it. It's sort of the way that music is more than the sum of its parts. You have all these elements that make up the terroir that wine can communicate.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Wine #Thinking #Elements

And if you don't live, you have nothing to write about.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Writing

This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality. Embrace this moment, remember: we are eternal all this pain is an illusion.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Pain #Body #Remember

Why did Father give these humans free will? Now they're all confused.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Father #Confused #Giving

Because as an only child, you have your own little world.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Children #World #Littles

Recognize this as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Breathing #Alive #Chance

Finding beauty in the dissonance
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Dissonance #Findings

Do unto others what has been done to you,
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Done

Jesus Christ, why dont you come save my life. Open my eyes and blind me with your light and your lies.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Jesus #Lying #Eye

Liar, lawyer, mirror show me. What’s the difference?
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Liars #Differences #Mirrors

So crucify the ego, before its far too late To leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical, And you will come to find that we are all one mind Capable of all thats imagined and all conceivable. Just let the light touch you And let the words spill through And let them pass right through Bringing out our hope and reason ... before we pine away.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Light #Cynical #Ego

There is still a future with music, because people want music
-- Maynard James Keenan

#People #Want #Music Is

I always knew that I wanted to be creative, that I wanted to create something
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Creative #Be Creative #Wanted

But then it hasn't really been a focus of our government to make us an educated people.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Government #People #Focus

The trick is to use the drugs once to get there, and maybe spend the next ten years trying to get back there without the drug.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Years #Drug #Trying

I think everything Joni Mitchell did for music was big.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Thinking #Think Big #Bigs

Seems like Ive been here before. Seems so familiar. Seems like Im slipping into a dream within a dream.
-- Maynard James Keenan

#Dream #Slipping #Familiar