Quote Of The Day By John Denver: 'There Comes A Point, When I'm Incredibly Angry Or Sad, That I Experience That...'

The life and work of John Denver are a testament to the power of simple things — not just because he tended to favor casual, universally relatable themes in his lyrics, but because his whopping celebrity in the '70s and '80s was built from little more than the consistent ritual of picking up his guitar, getting on stage, and playing his music. One of the most successful and renowned country artists of all time, Denver embodies the ideal of the all-American bard, spurred by an irresistible calling to wander from coast to coast, chronicling his trials and those of his fellow men in song.

Following his beginnings in the '60s folk music scene, Denver embarked on a solo musical career in 1969, and quickly gained a following across the United States with his searing and heartfelt songs about love, nature, working-class life, and the power of music and poetry. With the vast majority of his oeuvre built around acoustic guitar and voice, he was able to move nimbly, recording and performing at a stunningly consistent and productive clip throughout the '70s and early '80s. As a writer, he created music that spoke to the everyday experiences of his audience, keeping a proximity to the American people that allowed him to become the only modern-day artist with official state songs in two different states. And his lifelong sense of clarity about the totality of life — in all its beauty, ugliness, glory, tragedy, despair, joy, and fascination — is why he is our Quote of the Day.

"And there comes a point, when I'm incredibly angry or sad, that I experience that emotion so strongly it gets to be a celebration."

John Denver said these words in a 1977 interview with Playboy (via The Florida Review), in the context of a larger reflection about his steadfast belief in the value of life, and the extent to which that belief is strengthened even in moments of pain and sorrow. The emotion he referred to in his comment, and which he deemed it his life's purpose to share with people, was, "in the midst of this incredibly insane world, with all of the terrors and problems, that life is worth living."

Denver, who was then at the height of his popularity, further explained that, when he was feeling particularly low, his sadness came laced with elation at being alive: "How wonderful to feel this way! How wonderful it is to care so much that your heart is breaking! I'm aware that throughout all of this pain, what permeates me is this sense of love and of life." In what shouldn't come as much of a surprise if you have any familiarity with his work, he told Playboy that this feeling was the thing he was most enthused about sharing with people, not only through his music but also through his relationships: "Anybody I see or talk to, I'd really like him to feel better afterward."

If there's one thing John Denver is associated with in popular culture, it's positivity; his love of nature, community, and humanity made him the ultimate idealist of the '70s. Yet, as demonstrated by our Quote of the Day, Denver's idealism didn't come from a rose-colored view of the world, or from willful ignorance of its problems. On the contrary, it came precisely from looking at those problems head-on, and being awakened to their weight and to the importance of overcoming them.

A lifelong activist who contributed to initiatives against world hunger and nuclear proliferation, he testified in Congress against the PMRC's effort to censor musicians in 1985 and made no secret of his environmentalism, his anti-war views, and his criticisms of the likes of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Denver was the furthest thing imaginable from a political conformist or a fence-sitter. He knew very well how much was wrong with the U.S. and the world in his time, and consistently made a point of addressing it.

Yet he remained unwavering in his love of life and humanity, and his comment to Playboy points to why: In moments of hardship, Denver was reminded of how much was beautiful and worth protecting and nurturing. His despair at both personal and world affairs made him acutely aware of how much he cared, and how important it was that he did. In times of calamitous political apathy all over the world, his attitude reminds us that we can and should remain invested in our lives and those of our fellow humans, and keep fighting to make them better and preserve their wonder.

• "Heck, I'm no Henry Mancini or Michel Legrand. I just play the guitar and write songs."
• "Peace is a conscious choice, just like health is a conscious choice, just like exercise or being serious about your studies. You make a conscious choice to take advantage of the opportunities that are given you, to not slough it off. So peace is a conscious choice, which can be reflected in every aspect of your life, and you make that choice, you, an individual."
• "We can address the reality of a problem and not deal with just the symptoms, and create not only a better world for our children but for ourselves and all of humanity. We can end hunger. We can rid the world of nuclear weapons. We can learn to live together as human beings on a planet that travels through the universe, living the example of peace and harmony among all people."
• "For me, all the different issues I've gotten involved in over the years have all been environmental issues. I think education is an environmental issue. I think economics is an environmental issue."
• "I think there are enormous changes that have taken place in the world, real positive changes. And I think those are going to increase. And the major challenge that we face right now is really instilling in our young people, the vision of a future that is bright, with a better quality of life for all living things, that it's still possible. And that we can make the world the way that we want it to be."