--- title: "1 Past Trying Quotes By Utah Phillips" description: "1 Past Trying quotes by Utah Phillips. Plus more from Utah Phillips and more Past Trying sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/226/utah-phillips-15584_friendship_i-have-a-good-friend-in-the-east-who-com_3055894.jpg" --- > [“I have a good friend in the East, who comes to my shows and says, you sing a lot about the past, you can't live in the past, you know. I say to him, I can go outside and pick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/i-have-a-good-friend-in-the-east-who-comes-to-my-shows-and-says-you/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/226/utah-phillips-15584_friendship_i-have-a-good-friend-in-the-east-who-com_3055894.jpg) ## More by Utah Phillips > [Laurie Lewis' songs combine passion and sheer craft in a way you don't hear very often. Whatever country music is supposed to be, she's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/laurie-lewis-songs-combine-passion-and-sheer-craft-in-a-way-you-don-t/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [It is better to be likable than to be talented.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/it-is-better-to-be-likable-than-to-be-talented/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [The most un-American thing you can do is to stifle dissent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/the-most-un-american-thing-you-can-do-is-to-stifle-dissent/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [“Yes, the long memory is the most radical idea in this country. It is the loss of that long memory which deprives our people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/yes-the-long-memory-is-the-most-radical-idea-in-this-country-it-is/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [Every good educator knows that true teaching is to teach kids how to ask the right questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/every-good-educator-knows-that-true-teaching-is-to-teach-kids-how-to/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [I tramped. When I was on the freight trains, I wasn't looking for work. I was looking to go from place to place without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/i-tramped-when-i-was-on-the-freight-trains-i-wasn-t-looking-for-work/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [You are about to be told one more time that you are America's most valuable natural resource. Have you seen what they do to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/you-are-about-to-be-told-one-more-time-that-you-are-america-s-most/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [Chris Chandler is the best performance poet I have ever seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/chris-chandler-is-the-best-performance-poet-i-have-ever-seen/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [When I was in Utah there, first learning the kind of music I love, my favorite singer was T. Texas Tyler. So my friend,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/when-i-was-in-utah-there-first-learning-the-kind-of-music-i-love-my/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [Folk music isn't owned by anybody. It is owned by everybody, like the national parks, the postal system, and the school system. It's our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/folk-music-isn-t-owned-by-anybody-it-is-owned-by-everybody-like-the/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [“These kids don't have a little brother working in the coal mine, they don't have a little sister coughing her lungs out in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/these-kids-don-t-have-a-little-brother-working-in-the-coal-mine-they/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [ I said, "OK, Ammon \[Hennacy\], I will try that." He said, "You came into the world armed to the teeth. With an arsenal of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/i-said-ok-ammon-hennacy-i-will-try-that-he-said-you-came-into-the/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [Time is an enormous, long river, and I’m standing in it, just as you’re standing in it. My elders are the tributaries, and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/time-is-an-enormous-long-river-and-i-m-standing-in-it-just-as-you-re/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [“Frying-Pan Jack and I were in that camp, that's where he said to me, he'd been tramping since 1927, 'I told myself in '27,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/frying-pan-jack-and-i-were-in-that-camp-that-s-where-he-said-to-me-he/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [“Q: What can people do to defend their civil liberties? Phillips: I'm a pacifist, but the most American thing you can do is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/q-what-can-people-do-to-defend-their-civil-liberties-phillips-i-m-a/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-trying/utah-phillips/#itemlist", "name": "1 Past Trying Quotes By Utah Phillips", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I have a good friend in the East, who comes to my shows and says, you sing a lot about the past, you can't live in the past, you know. I say to him, I can go outside and pick up a rock that's older than the oldest song you know, and bring it back in here and drop it on your foot. Now the past didn't go anywhere, did it? It's right here, right now. I always thought that anybody who told me I couldn't live in the past was trying to get me to forget something that if I remembered it it would get them serious trouble. No, that 50s, 60s, 70s, 90s stuff, that whole idea of decade packaging, things don't happen that way. The Vietnam War heated up in 1965 and ended in 1975-- what's that got to do with decades? No, that packaging of time is a journalist convenience that they use to trivialize and to dismiss important events and important ideas. I defy that.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Utah Phillips" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/i-have-a-good-friend-in-the-east-who-comes-to-my-shows-and-says-you/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/226/utah-phillips-15584_friendship_i-have-a-good-friend-in-the-east-who-com_3055894.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/226/utah-phillips-15584_friendship_i-have-a-good-friend-in-the-east-who-com_3055894.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/226/utah-phillips-15584_friendship_i-have-a-good-friend-in-the-east-who-com_3055894.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have a good friend in the East, who comes to my shows and says, you sing a lot about the past, you can't…” — Utah Phillips", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-trying/utah-phillips/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-trying/utah-phillips/", "name": "Past Trying Quotes by Utah Phillips", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-trying/utah-phillips/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/226/utah-phillips-15584_friendship_i-have-a-good-friend-in-the-east-who-com_3055894.jpg" }, "description": "1 Past Trying quotes by Utah Phillips. 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