--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You're gonna have to serve somebody…" description: "\"You're gonna have to serve somebody; well, it may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna have to serve somebody...\" — Bob Dylan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d21/bob-dylan-168_devil_you-re-gonna-have-to-serve-somebody-well_2947334.jpg" --- # You're gonna have to serve somebody; well, it may be the… ![“You're gonna have to serve somebody; well, it may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna have to serve somebody...” quote by Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d21/bob-dylan-168_devil_you-re-gonna-have-to-serve-somebody-well_2947334.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d21/bob-dylan-168_devil_you-re-gonna-have-to-serve-somebody-well_2947334.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d21/bob-dylan-168_devil_you-re-gonna-have-to-serve-somebody-well_2947334.jpg) > “You're gonna have to serve somebody; well, it may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna have to serve somebody...” [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Everyone must serve someone, be it a divine or malevolent force; service is inevitable. **In simple terms:** All must serve someone. Key Takeaway Choose service wisely. Themes service choice morality destiny Mood thoughtful reflective Type musical philosophical When to use this quote - career choices - political activism - religious devotion - personal relationships Key Concepts existentialism spiritual dualism personal responsibility Questions to Reflect On - Who or what do you serve? - Can service be truly voluntary? A Different Perspective Servitude may conflict with autonomy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Devil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devil/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Gonna Serve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gonna-serve-3031607/) [Lord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lord/) [Lord Gonna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lord-gonna-4424296/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Serve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serve/) [Serve Somebody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serve-somebody-1785198/) [Somebody Devil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/somebody-devil-3920153/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [You're gonna have to serve somebody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/you-re-gonna-have-to-serve-somebody/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [If you going to live by a certain code - as Bob Dylan said, you gotta serve somebody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-going-to-live-by-a-certain-code-as-bob-dylan-said-you-gotta/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Who do you serve? Do you serve somebody? I serve the poem, no one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-notley/who-do-you-serve-do-you-serve-somebody-i-serve-the-poem-no-one/) [Alice Notley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-notley/) > [“Maybe we are all somebody's devil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-dicks/maybe-we-are-all-somebody-s-devil/) [Matthew Dicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-dicks/) > [No man has ever risen to the stature of spiritual manhood until he has found that it is finer to serve somebody else than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/no-man-has-ever-risen-to-the-stature-of-spiritual-manhood-until-he/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [The church is never a place to show off. Do your good deeds quietly. Serve; don't seek to be seen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/the-church-is-never-a-place-to-show-off-do-your-good-deeds-quietly/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [At the most fundamental level, it is an honor to serve - at whatever type or size of organization you are privileged to lead,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-mulally/at-the-most-fundamental-level-it-is-an-honor-to-serve-at-whatever/) [Alan Mulally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-mulally/) > [Sir, what does it matter whom I serve, so long as I am right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-corneille/sir-what-does-it-matter-whom-i-serve-so-long-as-i-am-right/) [Pierre Corneille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-corneille/) > [It has always been my plan not to serve more than two terms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-demint/it-has-always-been-my-plan-not-to-serve-more-than-two-terms/) [Jim DeMint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-demint/) > [There's always one shot that I can rely on when I'm not hitting the ball that well, is my serve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-sampras/there-s-always-one-shot-that-i-can-rely-on-when-i-m-not-hitting-the/) [Pete Sampras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-sampras/) > [I've always wanted my music to serve a certain purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/india-arie/i-ve-always-wanted-my-music-to-serve-a-certain-purpose/) [India Arie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/india-arie/) > [You can’t be a successful leader or mentor until you have served. You can’t serve until you have stepped out of your comfort zone.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-courtney/you-can-t-be-a-successful-leader-or-mentor-until-you-have-served-you/) [Bill Courtney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-courtney/) > [To serve does not mean to surrender but to share.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-joshua-heschel/to-serve-does-not-mean-to-surrender-but-to-share/) [Abraham Joshua Heschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-joshua-heschel/) > [“Serve in the grace of strength within thy soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/serve-in-the-grace-of-strength-within-thy-soul/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Some shows just go away - and that's fine. They serve their purpose and their entertainment value, but there are shows that touch people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cudlitz/some-shows-just-go-away-and-that-s-fine-they-serve-their-purpose-and/) [Michael Cudlitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cudlitz/) ## More by Bob Dylan > [The hollow horn plays wasted words, proves to warn that he not busy being born is busy dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-hollow-horn-plays-wasted-words-proves-to-warn-that-he-not-busy/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Don't forget to support your public library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/don-t-forget-to-support-your-public-library/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [You don't count the dead, when god's on your side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/you-don-t-count-the-dead-when-god-s-on-your-side/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [She makes love just like a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/she-makes-love-just-like-a-woman/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Silvio, I gotta go, find out something only dead men know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/silvio-i-gotta-go-find-out-something-only-dead-men-know/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I don't really have a retirement plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-don-t-really-have-a-retirement-plan/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Just a reminder, if you tell anyone about what happened with Jonah last night, I'll destroy all of my writing and never play music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/just-a-reminder-if-you-tell-anyone-about-what-happened-with-jonah/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Little red wagon, little red bike, I ain’t no monkey but I know what I like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/little-red-wagon-little-red-bike-i-ain-t-no-monkey-but-i-know-what-i/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Twenty years of schooling and they put you on the day shift - look out out kid, they keep it all hid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/twenty-years-of-schooling-and-they-put-you-on-the-day-shift-look-out/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [The drunken politician leaps upon the street where mothers weep, and the saviors who are fast asleep, they wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-drunken-politician-leaps-upon-the-street-where-mothers-weep-and/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/your-eyes-are-like-two-jewels-in-the-sky/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I gotta friend who spends his life, stabbing my picture with a bowie knife. Dreams of strangling me with a scarf, when my name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-gotta-friend-who-spends-his-life-stabbing-my-picture-with-a-bowie/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [She speaks with a stutter and she and she walks with a hop. I don't know why I love her, but I just can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/she-speaks-with-a-stutter-and-she-and-she-walks-with-a-hop-i-don-t/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [The man in the coon skin cap in the pig pen wants eleven dollar bills, you've only got ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-man-in-the-coon-skin-cap-in-the-pig-pen-wants-eleven-dollar-bills/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Don't put my faith in nobody, not even a scientist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/don-t-put-my-faith-in-nobody-not-even-a-scientist/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) [Explore all 1,018 Bob Dylan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## More Devil quotes > [“The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose, Sergeant,’ Anthony Payne replied. ‘That is from The Merchant of Venice, but it holds great truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-arnold/the-devil-can-cite-scripture-for-his-purpose-sergeant-anthony-payne/) [Michael Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-arnold/) > [Alimony - the ransom that the happy pay to the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/alimony-the-ransom-that-the-happy-pay-to-the-devil/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“Beauty is not only a terrible thing, it is also a mysterious thing. There God and the Devil strive for mastery, and the battleground…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/beauty-is-not-only-a-terrible-thing-it-is-also-a-mysterious-thing/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [The devil has been defeated, stop trying to defeat him. What we have left is the fight of faith, and it's a good fight!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-oyakhilome/the-devil-has-been-defeated-stop-trying-to-defeat-him-what-we-have/) [Chris Oyakhilome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-oyakhilome/) > [You gonna take the case?" It's not a case. It's a missing person. Sort of." You're gonna have a devil of a time finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/you-gonna-take-the-case-it-s-not-a-case-it-s-a-missing-person-sort-of/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) > [Your head's like mine, like all our heads; big enough to contain every god and devil there ever was. Big enough to hold the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/your-head-s-like-mine-like-all-our-heads-big-enough-to-contain-every/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [And so it is, that both the Devil and the angelic Spirit present us with objects of desire to awaken our power of choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/and-so-it-is-that-both-the-devil-and-the-angelic-spirit-present-us/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Remember that Abraham Lincoln was a Whig far longer than he was a Republican. As a whole, the Whigs looked upon banks and corporations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-c-guelzo/remember-that-abraham-lincoln-was-a-whig-far-longer-than-he-was-a/) [Allen C. Guelzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-c-guelzo/) > [Wine is the first weapon that devils use in attacking the young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-jerome/wine-is-the-first-weapon-that-devils-use-in-attacking-the-young/) [St. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-jerome/) > [“I tend to agree with that little devil more and more these days.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elle-casey/i-tend-to-agree-with-that-little-devil-more-and-more-these-days/) [Elle Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elle-casey/) > [This is the gift of your species and this is the danger, because you do not choose to control your imaginings. You imagine wonderful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-crichton/this-is-the-gift-of-your-species-and-this-is-the-danger-because-you/) [Michael Crichton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-crichton/) > [“The devil?” Jason heaved the tick over his shoulder like a collier with his sack. “Satan. The adversary. The enemy of the plan of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/the-devil-jason-heaved-the-tick-over-his-shoulder-like-a-collier-with/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [God never talks. But the devil keeps advertising, Father. The devil does a lot of commercials.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/god-never-talks-but-the-devil-keeps-advertising-father-the-devil-does/) [William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/) > [If it was a sin for you to choose me . . . then I would go to the Devil himself and bless him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/if-it-was-a-sin-for-you-to-choose-me-then-i-would-go-to-the-devil/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”—Charles Baudelaire “The second greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/the-greatest-trick-the-devil-ever-pulled-was-convincing-the-world-he/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) [Browse all 4,283 Devil quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devil/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You're gonna have to serve somebody; well, it may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna have to serve somebody...", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bob Dylan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/you-re-gonna-have-to-serve-somebody-well-it-may-be-the-devil-or-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Devil" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/you-re-gonna-have-to-serve-somebody-well-it-may-be-the-devil-or-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d21/bob-dylan-168_devil_you-re-gonna-have-to-serve-somebody-well_2947334.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d21/bob-dylan-168_devil_you-re-gonna-have-to-serve-somebody-well_2947334.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d21/bob-dylan-168_devil_you-re-gonna-have-to-serve-somebody-well_2947334.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You're gonna have to serve somebody; well, it may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna have…” — Bob Dylan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bob Dylan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You're gonna have to serve somebody;...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/you-re-gonna-have-to-serve-somebody-well-it-may-be-the-devil-or-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/you-re-gonna-have-to-serve-somebody-well-it-may-be-the-devil-or-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```