Renowned singer-songwriter Bob Dylan described what true success really means. According to the 84-year-old iconic singer, success means living life on one’s own terms, from waking up to going to bed, embracing personal desires and choices throughout the day. The words of one of the best-selling musicians continue to make sense to this day and inspire the young.
Quote of the day by Bob Dylan: “A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.”
Famously known for songs like Blowin’ in the Wind and The Times They Are a-Changin’, Bob Dylan believed that success is defined by the freedom to do what one wants between waking and sleeping, reflecting personal fulfillment. Born on 24 May 1941, in Minnesota, with birth name Robert Allen Zimmerman, Bob Dylan emerged as a major figure in popular culture with a career spanning nearly 7 decades.
His songs, which had mass appeal, became anthems for civil rights and anti-war movements in the 1960s. His distinctive songwriting and voice helped him rise to the top and become an established musician.
The celebrated cultural icon created a stir in the music industry with his 1960s songs Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde and his six-minute single “Like a Rolling Stone.”
Bob Dylan’s achievements
Several awards acknowledged Bob Dylan’s contribution to the music industry. A total of ten Grammy Awards marked his distinguished career. His 1997 album ‘Time Out of Mind’ secured Grammy Award in ‘Album of the Year’ category.
A noted figure of the music industry, Bob Dylan received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1997 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. In 1988, Dylan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 1982 into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
He won Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Things Have Changed” in 2001. In 2008, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize special citation. He was conferred with Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016 “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.
His work continues to motivate people round the world and resonate with audiences globally. In his song ‘Love Minus Zero/No Limit’ from the studio album Bringing It All Back Home, an enigmatic line states, “She know there’s no success like failure and that failure’s no success at all.” This song was released in January 1965 when Bob was twenty-three.
