By the time I was 18, I had absorbed punk rock from America, Britain, and the West Coast. All of it was… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
I went through this difficult time [in the 1984] when we were making our third record where I kind of lost my… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
There are people that very strongly identify themselves as gay and then lesbian, and then I think there are a lot of… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
So, we went from being an Athens band to being a Georgia band to being a Southern band to being an American… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
The artwork for the record is kind of an homage to that. It's a collage, which rhymes with homage, I just realized.… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
When we signed with Warner Bros., they knew what they were getting. They knew they weren't going to get some easily manipulated… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
I'm kind of quoting Thurston [Moore] and Kim [Gordon] in saying that about not being great with addicts, because they are the… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
When I hear music as a fan, I see fields. I see landscapes. I close my eyes and see an entire universe… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
For me, as a music fan, visuals kind of steal away the purity of the song. My instinct is not to provide… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
So, we just kind of created our own thing and that's part of the beauty of Athens: is that it's so off… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
We don't get groupies.We get teenagers who want to read us their poetry. — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
At the [teenage] time, I did have an inkling of my sexuality. And I had an inkling that I was different from other people… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
I don't find R.E.M. to be nihilistic. There is a constant undertone of joyous optimism. I'm not going to kill myself to Patti Smith… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
I simply constructed a project to try to snap Kurt [Cobain] out of a frame of mind. I sent him a plane ticket and… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
I was vulnerable every day. Every night that I stepped on stage I was laying myself open. — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
We're absolutely American and distinctly so, I think. That's part of what people respond to outside of this country, part of the reason that… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
[Columbia House] magazines were how I found out about the punk world going on in New York. Because of what I read, at the… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
I'm tired of being this solemn poet of the masses, the enigma shrouded in a mystery. — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
Frankly I'm not great with heroin addicts. I tried heroin, but it was by accident. I'm not great with that level of substance abuse. — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
The whole punk ethic was do-it-yourself, and I've always been very literal, especially as a kid. When they said that anybody can do this,… — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
They spoke truth and a lot of people listened… that voice, Kurt we miss you. — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
A wise man once said-'the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave,' — Michael Stipe Copy Share Image
![“I went through this difficult time [in the 1984] when we were making our third record where I kind of lost my mind. That's when the bulimia kicked in. And that's when I got really freaky.” quote by Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0cc/michael-stipe-6714_bulimia_i-went-through-this-difficult-time-in-th_1393702.jpg)
![“I'm kind of quoting Thurston [Moore] and Kim [Gordon] in saying that about not being great with addicts, because they are the ones who said it to me.” quote by Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/1bb/michael-stipe-6714_addict_i-m-kind-of-quoting-thurston-moore-and-k_3113368.jpg)
![“At the [teenage] time, I did have an inkling of my sexuality. And I had an inkling that I was different from other people in ways beyond my sexuality. But I didn't get into music because I thought, Oh, these people will understand me.” quote by Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/956/michael-stipe-6714_different_at-the-teenage-time-i-did-have-an-inklin_64270.jpg)
![“I simply constructed a project to try to snap Kurt [Cobain] out of a frame of mind. I sent him a plane ticket and a driver, and he tacked the plane ticket to the wall in the bedroom and the driver sat outside the house for 10 hours. Kurt wouldn't come out and wouldn't answer the phone.” quote by Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/208/michael-stipe-6714_answers_i-simply-constructed-a-project-to-try-to_117192.jpg)
![“[Columbia House] magazines were how I found out about the punk world going on in New York. Because of what I read, at the age of 15, I hounded the local record store to order a copy of Horses [1975] for me by Patti Smith.” quote by Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b4f/michael-stipe-6714_age_columbia-house-magazines-were-how-i-foun_159607.jpg)
