Bob Geldof Quotes

[About his foster daughter Tiger Lily, the daughter of Paula Yates and Michael Hutchence] "She calls me Dad. We were shopping the other day and they played one of my songs then one of her dad's. She said, 'That's you, Dad.' Then she said, 'That's my real dad. My real dad's a better singer than you, Dad." I just said: 'Sheesh... Thanks."

[About different motivations for taking up causes] "Bono as we all know, is in love with the world, he's enamoured by it. I'm enraged by it. He wants to give the world a great big hug, I want to punch its lights out."

"We need finally to move from charity (Band Aid, Live Aid) to political and economic justice. Charity deals with the pain of poverty, the hunger, disease and conflict, but to finally end these things one must focus not on the symptoms of poverty but on its structures. Why does it exist? How does it exist? What can we do to stop it and its awful symptoms? That can only be addressed by political change."

"I think people respond well to the facts. The fact that a few miles away from Europe there is a continent where the majority of the population go to bed hungry every night should resonate with all of us. It is in our interests too to look after our neighbors. I find that the best strategy is to make the public aware of the situation and what needs to be, and can be, done about it. Sometimes the politicians need a bit of an ear-bashing to help them on their way to these solutions (but if the voters told the politicians to sort it out I could pipe down a bit - it is in your power to shut me up!)."

"Individual charity is essential, one human to another reaching over the impenetrable roar of political discourse to assist another in pain. Not to do this would kill us spiritually, but it will not deal with the structures of poverty that allow that pain to exist. Concerted, coherent, durable and massive political action can do that."