Read these top 60 Kurt Cobain quotes and learn more about this ‘90s rock legend and Nirvana frontman.
Kurt Cobain might just be one of the most famous names in the music industry. Whether you’re a fan of his or not, his music will make you stop and think about how you’re going about your life.
And, even decades after his passing, his Nevermind album still touches the hearts of millions of people worldwide.
However, people have varying and opposing opinions on Kurt Cobain. Some view him as a devoted father who tried to move past his mistakes, and some see him as a drug addict.
There might have been two sides to him, but his wisdom, raw views on life, and unique perspective are things that can guide us as we navigate our problems and insecurities.
If you’re a fan of his or simply want to learn more about him, this collection will perfectly fit the bill. Scroll through to the end and find some of the most relatable Kurt Cobain quotes!
Continue to the list below.
Best Kurt Cobain Quotes
1. “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.”
2. “They laugh at me because I’m different; I laugh at them because they’re all the same.”
3. “Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.”
4. “Music is energy—a mood, atmosphere, feeling.”
5. “The sun is gone, but I have a light.”
6. “Do your own thing. Others own their own thing. If you copy too much, you’ll find yourself in late-night cocktail lounge cover band limbo.”
7. “Either I’ve accepted it or gone beyond insane, where I can deal with it emotionally.”
Famous Kurt Cobain Quotes
8. “Practice makes perfect, but nobody’s perfect, so why practice?”
9. “You can’t buy happiness.”
10. “If my eyes could show my soul, everyone would cry when they saw me smile.”
11. “The duty of youth is to challenge corruption.”
12. “A friend is nothing but a known enemy.”
13. “We’re not as popular as everyone thinks, and we’re not as rich as everyone thinks.”
14. “Words suck. I mean, everything has been said. Words aren’t as important as the energy derived from music, especially live.”
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Kurt Cobain Quotes About Life
15. “There are a lot of things I wish I would have done, instead of just sitting around and complaining about having a boring life.”
16. “The finest day I ever had was when tomorrow never came.”
17. “If you die you’re completely happy and your soul somewhere lives on. I’m not afraid of dying. Total peace after death, becoming someone else is the best hope I’ve got.”
18. “Nobody dies a virgin. Life f*cks us all.”
19. “Life isn’t nearly as sacred as appreciation of passion.”
Kurt Cobain Quotes About Love
20. “I’d rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not.”
21. “Come as you are. As you were. As I want you to be.”
22. “No one is afraid of heights, they’re afraid of falling down. No one is afraid of saying I love you, they’re afraid of the answer.”
23. “There’s good in all of us and I think I simply love people too much—so much that it makes me feel too f*cking sad.”
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Kurt Cobain Quotes That Are Packed With Wisdom
24. “To be positive at all times is to ignore all that is important, sacred, and valuable. To be negative at all times is to be threatened by ridiculousness and instant discredibility.”
25. “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.”
26. “I was tired of pretending that I was someone else just to get along with people, just for the sake of having friendships.”
27. “Drugs are a waste of time. They destroy your memory and your self-respect and everything that goes along with your self-esteem. They’re no good at all.”
28. “Birds scream at the top of their lungs in horrified hellish rage every morning at daybreak to warn us all of the truth. But sadly, we don’t speak bird.”
29. “If you ever need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask someone else first.”
30. “If you’re really a mean person, you’re going to come back as a fly and eat poop.”
31. “Rape is one of the most terrible crimes on earth and it happens every few minutes. The problem with groups who deal with rape is that they try to educate women about how to defend themselves. What really needs to be done is teaching men not to rape. Go to the source and start there.”
Short Kurt Cobain Quotes You Need to Read Today
32. “Music is first, lyrics are secondary.”
33. “Rather be dead than cool.”
34. “The worst crime is faking it.”
35. “We’re so trendy we can’t even escape ourselves.”
36. “I’m not well-read, but when I read, I read well.”
37. “Thank you for the tragedy. I need it for my art.”
38. “I like to complain and do nothing to make things better.”
39. “If it’s illegal to rock and roll, throw my *ss in jail!”
Kurt Cobain Quotes for Those Who Want to Know More About Him
40. “I never wanted to sing. I just wanted to play rhythm guitar, hide in the back, and just play.”
41. “I just hope I don’t become so blissful I become boring. I think I’ll always be neurotic enough to do something weird.”
42. “I use bits and pieces of others’ personalities to form my own.”
43. “I’ve never been a very prolific person, so when creativity flows, it flows. I find myself scribbling on little notepads and pieces of loose paper, which results in a very small portion of my writings to ever show up in true form.”
44. “I’m a spokesman for myself. It just so happens that there’s a bunch of people that are concerned with what I have to say. I find that frightening at times because I’m just as confused as most people. I don’t have the answers for anything.”
45. “I like to have strong opinions with nothing to back them up with besides my primal sincerity. I like sincerity. I lack sincerity.”
46. “I don’t care what you think unless it is about me.”
47. “We have this conflict between good and evil and man and woman because there are people doing evil things to other people for no reason, and I just want to beat the sh*t out of them. That’s the bottom line. All I can do is scream into a microphone instead.”
Kurt Cobain Quotes to Give You a Glimpse Into His Mind
48. “I really miss being able to blend in with people.”
49. “I’m so happy because today I found my friends—they’re in my head.”
50. “I mean, I like to be passionate and sincere, but I also like to have fun and act like a dork. Geeks unite.”
51. “Before I die, many will die with me and they’ll deserve it. See you in Hell.”
52. “We’ve always had a sense of humor, I don’t think it’s been translated well.”
53. “I’ve always had a problem with the average macho man; they’ve always been a threat to me.”
Kurt Cobain Quotes for Music Lovers
54. “Because there is nothing in the world I like more than pure underground music.”
55. “I didn’t know how to deal with success. If there was a Rock Star 101, I would have liked to take it. It might have helped me.”
56. “I was looking for something a lot heavier, yet melodic at the same time. Something different from heavy metal, a different attitude.”
57. “Punk is musical freedom. It’s saying, doing, and playing what you want. In Webster’s terms, ‘nirvana’ means freedom from pain, suffering, and the external world, and that’s pretty close to my definition of punk rock.”
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More Kurt Cobain Quotes That You’ll Enjoy
58. “I’m disgusted by my own and my generation’s apathy. I’m disgusted at what we allow to go on, by how spineless, lethargic, and guilty we are of not standing up against racism, sexism, and all those other ‘isms’ that the counterculture has been whining about for years.”
59. “I like to make people feel happy and superior in their reaction towards my appearance.”
60. “My mother encouraged me to be artistic. It was written in a contract at an early age that I would be an artist.”
What’s Your Take on Kurt Cobain’s Personality and Past Experiences?
Like many people in the world, Kurt Cobain, unfortunately, had a tough and sad childhood. He’d been forever traumatized and influenced by his parents’ divorce and the community he grew up in. However, from the start, Kurt Cobain knew that he had a passion for music and had some sort of inkling that music would be his outlet and way up.
He was introduced to punk rock, which forever changed his life. This doesn’t mean that everything was sunshine and rainbows after that. Kurt Cobain still struggled between his bad habits and his desire to become a better family man.
This tug of war between the good and the bad made his music so relatable to people. Like everyone else, he wasn’t perfect; he was flawed, he made mistakes, and he was human. Through Kurt Cobain, we learn to be more accepting of our good and our bad sides and how they shape us to be the people we are now.
It’s hard to be perfect and do good all the time. But, having the intention to improve for yourself and your loved ones is a good enough start. So, whenever you feel like you’re being tugged in two different directions like what Kurt Cobain experienced, read through this collection of his best quotes once again!
Have you ever listened to any of Kurt Cobain’s songs? Which of his quotes tugged at your heartstrings? Comment below.
