25 Frank Zappa Quotes from One of the Greatest Musicians in History

Frank Zappa quotes to remind you of a great artist.

Frank Zappa was born in 1940 and died a too-early death in 1993.

In between, Frank Zappa became known as one of the greatest musicians of all time.

He was a singer-songwriter, composer, and he played multiple instruments.

A self-taught composer and performer, Frank Zappa worked hard to get where he was and his beliefs backed his life.

Frank Zappa believed in capitalism, entrepreneurship, and small government.

He was a self-made man who was driven enough to make it for himself and to help some others make it as well.

Don’t forget to also check out these Ludwig van Beethoven quotes from the greatest composer of all time.

If you enjoy this article, check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily motivation. 

Browse our entire collection of inspirational quotes for more motivating ideas and concepts.

Frank Zappa quotes about art

1. “Music is the most physically inspiring of all the arts.” ― Frank Zappa

2. “Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.” ― Frank Zappa

3. “If classical music is the state of the art, then the arts are in a sad state.” ― Frank Zappa

4. “Tosses her head and flips her hair, she got a whole bunch of nothing in there.” ― Frank Zappa

5. “Her head is full of bubbles, her nose is petite, she looks like she never gets nothing to eat.” ― Frank Zappa

6. “Science is moving closer to weaponry, and Art is moving closer to commercialism. And never the twain shall meet.” ― Frank Zappa

7. “Believe it or not, there are places in the world where music is important. There are places in the world where all the arts are a matter of national pride.” ― Frank Zappa

8. “The most important thing in art is The Frame. For painting: literally; for other arts: figuratively – because without this humble appliance, you can’t know where The Art stops and The Real World begins.” ― Frank Zappa

9. “The manner in which Americans “consume” music has a lot to do with leaving it on their coffee tables or using it as wallpaper for their lifestyles, like the score of a movie –it’s consumed that way without any regard for how and why it’s made.” ― Frank Zappa

If you’re enjoying these quotes, you’ll love our collection of wallpaper quotes to inspire your life.

Frank Zappa quotes about music

10. “Jazz isn’t dead. It just smells funny.” ― Frank Zappa

11. “Music is the only religion that delivers the goods.” ― Frank Zappa

12. “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” ― Frank Zappa

13. “Most people wouldn’t know music if it came up and bit them on the ass.” ― Frank Zappa

14. “All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff.” ― Frank Zappa

15. “The rock and roll business is pretty absurd, but the world of serious music is much worse.” ― Frank Zappa

16. “There are more love songs than anything else. If songs could make you do something we’d all love one another.” ― Frank Zappa

17. “Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid.” ― Frank Zappa

18. “A composer is a guy who goes around forcing his will on unsuspecting air molecules, often with the assistance of unsuspecting musicians.” ― Frank Zappa

19. “You can’t always write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say, so sometimes you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream.” ― Frank Zappa

20. “The creation and destruction of harmonic and ‘statistical’ tensions is essential to the maintenance of compositional drama. Any composition (or improvisation) which remains consonant and ‘regular’ throughout is, for me, equivalent to watching a movie with only ‘good guys’ in it, or eating cottage cheese.” ― Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa quotes about life and education

21. “So many books, so little time.” ― Frank Zappa

22. “A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it is not open.” ― Frank Zappa

23. “If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want an education, go to the library.” ― Frank Zappa

24. “There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life.” ― Frank Zappa

25. “Drop out of school before your mind rots from exposure to our mediocre educational system. Forget about the Senior Prom and go to the library and educate yourself if you’ve got any guts. Some of you like Pep rallies and plastic robots who tell you what to read.” ― Frank Zappa

What did you learn from these Frank Zappa quotes?

As you can see from the quotes, Frank Zappa was a philosopher in his own way.

He made it as a musician and he traveled the world playing music.

The things he saw and experienced shaped his world view.

He was a man who did not like to be governed and felt that others should not as well.

He was a tobacco user and hated the anti-tobacco messages.

Although not a drug user, he did not like the government making them illegal and felt that everyone should make their own choices.

To learn more about one of America’s most eclectic and gifted rock and roller’s, check out Frank Zappa’s solo work or his work with his most known band, “The Mothers of Invention”.

What’s your biggest takeaway from these Frank Zappa quotes and sayings?

Do you have any other favorite quotes to add?

Let us know in the comment section below.