Oscar Hammerstein II Quotations

Be brave, young lovers, and follow your star.

Do you love me because I'm beautiful, or am I beautiful because you love me?

A bell's not a bell 'til you ring it, A song's not a song 'til you sing it, Love in your heart wasn't put there to stay, Love isn't love 'til you give it away!

Peace is not the product of a victory or a command. It has no finishing line, no final deadline, no fixed definition of achievement. Peace is a never-ending process, the work of many decisions.

I know the world is filled with troubles and many injustices. But reality is as beautiful as it is ugly. I think it is just as important to sing about beautiful mornings as it is to talk about slums. I just couldn't write anything without hope in it.

You gotta have a dream. If you don't have a dream, how you gonna make a dream come true?

If you become a teacher, by your pupils you'll be taught.

What is a sophisticate? He is a man who thinks he can swim better than he can and sometimes he drowns.

The dearest things I know are what you are.

The number of people who will not go to a show they do not want to see is unlimited.

You've got to be taught to hate and fear.

Fish got to swim, birds got to fly.

But I'm only a cockeyed optimist.

I'd let my golden chances pass me by.

These are a few of my favorite things.

I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy

Fish got to swim, birds got to fly I got to love one man till I die Can't help lovin' dat man of mine.

The last time I saw Paris, her heart was warm and gay, I heard the laughter of her heart in every street café.

Hello, Young Lovers, Wherever You Are.

June is bustin' out all over.

You can have fun with a son, But you got to be a father to a girl.

I'm not going to run, I'm going to stand here and watch. Every blow will cut into my heart, and tell me who and what you are.

Fools give you reasons, wise men never try.

I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm.

Oklahoma Where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain.

Ev'rythin's up to date in Kansas City.

The hills are alive with the sound of music, with songs they have sung for a thousand years.

Berlin's great secret is that he says exactly what he means; sometimes he hits a gigantic line both musically and lyrically -- almost Wagnerian in its strength.

You've got to be taught to be afraid Of people whose eyes are oddly made, Of people whose skin is a different shade. You've got to be carefully taught.

There is Nothing Like a Dame.

I'm as corny as Kansas in August.

Some enchanted evening, you may see a stranger Across a crowded room.

For when I fool the people I fear, I fool myself as well.

Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart, and you'll never walk alone, you'll never walk alone.

Do I love you because you're beautiful, or are you beautiful because I love you? Am I making believe I see in you, a woman too perfect to be really true? Do I want you because you're wonderful, or are you wonderful because I want you? Are you the sweet invention of a lover's dream, or are you really as beautiful as you seem?

When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad.

Why you were born and why you are living depend entirely on what you are getting out of this world and what you are giving to it. I cannot prove that this is a balance of mathematical perfection, but my own observation of life leads me to the conclusion that there is a very real friendship, both quantitatively and qualitatively, between what you contribute and what you get out of life.

It is a modern tragedy that despair has so many spokesmen, and hope so few.

Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart.

If you really believe in the brotherhood of man, and you want to come into its fold, you've got to let everyone else in, too.

There is a very real relationship, both quantitatively and qualitatively, between what you contribute and what you get out of this world.