Words of Wisdom

Lyrics have always mostly been my poetry. I thought today I'd put up some lyrics that I have found particularly wise and resonant: words to live by.

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Now with the wisdom of years
I try to reason things out
And the only people I fear
Are those who never have doubts
    - Billy Joel, "Shades of Grey" (from River of Dreams, 1993)

Who can explain it?
Who can tell you why?
Fools give you reasons
Wise men never try
    - Oscar Hammerstein II, "Some Enchanted Evening" (from South Pacific, 1949)

And I thought if I could just be twelve again
Or was it ten?
Well, anyway
It seems to me I knew the secret then
It's so simple, twelve
It's so simple, ten
It was simpler then
    - Fred Ebb, "Colored Lights" (from The Rink, 1984)

Trouble is, Charley
That's what everyone does
Blames the way it is
On the way it was
On the way it never ever was.
    - Stephen Sondheim, "Like It Was" (from Merrily We Roll Along, 1981)

One must accommodate the times
As one lives them
    - Stephen Sondheim, "A Bowler Hat" (from Pacific Overtures, 1976)

I am what I am.
I am my own special creation.
    - Jerry Herman, "I Am What I Am" (from La Cage aux Folles, 1983)

You take your road,
The decades fly,
The yearnings fade. the longings die
    - Stephen Sondheim, "The Road You Didn't Take" (from Follies, 1971)

Move on
Stop worrying where you're going
Move on....
I chose and my world was shaken
So what?
The choice may have been mistaken
The choosing was not.
    -Stephen Sondheim, "Move On" (Sunday in the Park with George, 1984)

But the world is full of zanies and fools
Who don't believe in sensible rules
And won't believe what sensible people say
And because these daft and dewy-eyed dopes
Keep building up impossible hopes
Impossible
Things are happening every day.
    - Oscar Hammerstein II, "Impossible" (from Cinderella, 1957)

A hundred million miracles
Are happening every day.
    - Oscar Hammerstein II, "A Hundred Million Miracles" (from Flower Drum Song, 1958)

I insist on miracles
If you do them
Miracles
Nothing to them!
    - Stephen Sondheim, "Everybody Says Don't" (from Anyone Can Whistle, 1964)

Let the moment go
Don't forget it for a moment though
Just remembering you've had an "and"
When you're back to "or"
Makes the "or" mean more
Than it did before
    - Stephen Sondheim, "Moments in the Woods" (from Into the Woods, 1987)

I believe if I refuse to grow old
I can stay young 'til I die
    - Stephen Schwartz, "No Time at All" (from Pippin, 1972)

My feet want to dance in the sun
My head wants to rest in the shade
The Lord says go out and have fun
But the landlord says:
Your rent ain't paid!
    - E.Y. Harburg, "Necessity" (from Finian's Rainbow, 1947)