Read Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

[Miles Archer]

Read Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-acceptance-speech/



I’m sorry I can’t be with you in person, but please know that I am most definitely with you in spirit and honored to be receiving such a prestigious prize. Being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature is something I never could have imagined or seen coming. From an early age, I’ve been familiar with and reading and absorbing the works of those who were deemed worthy of such a distinction: Kipling, Shaw, Thomas Mann, Pearl Buck, Albert Camus, Hemingway. These giants of literature whose works are taught in the schoolroom, housed in libraries around the world and spoken of in reverent tones have always made a deep impression. That I now join the names on such a list is truly beyond words.

I don’t know if these men and women ever thought of the Nobel honor for themselves, but I suppose that anyone writing a book, or a poem, or a play anywhere in the world might harbor that secret dream deep down inside. It’s probably buried so deep that they don’t even know it’s there.

If someone had ever told me that I had the slightest chance of winning the Nobel Prize, I would have to think that I’d have about the same odds as standing on the moon. In fact, during the year I was born and for a few years after, there wasn’t anyone in the world who was considered good enough to win this Nobel Prize. So, I recognize that I am in very rare company, to say the least.

I was out on the road when I received this surprising news, and it took me more than a few minutes to properly process it. I began to think about William Shakespeare, the great literary figure. I would reckon he thought of himself as a dramatist. The thought that he was writing literature couldn’t have entered his head. His words were written for the stage. Meant to be spoken not read. When he was writing Hamlet, I’m sure he was thinking about a lot of different things: “Who’re the right actors for these roles?” “How should this be staged?” “Do I really want to set this in Denmark?” His creative vision and ambitions were no doubt at the forefront of his mind, but there were also more mundane matters to consider and deal with. “Is the financing in place?” “Are there enough good seats for my patrons?” “Where am I going to get a human skull?” I would bet that the farthest thing from Shakespeare’s mind was the question “Is this literature?”


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[ailsagirl]

1. Thanks for posting!!!

[burrowowl]

2. K&R!!!!!!

[montana_hazeleyes]

3. Love you Bob Dylan!

Been a Bob Dylan fan since I was young like he was then.

I have only been to two concerts but enjoyed them so much. There's nobody like Bob Dylan.

[pangaia]

4. I grew up listening to this amazing person.

Finally a few years ago I had the chance to see him live.
I was in tears when he walked out on stage.

"Where am I going to get a human skull."

Love ya Bobby...

[Hekate]

5. Thank you so much for posting this, Miles. Bob Dylan -- who would have imagined?

[NBachers]

6. I was hoping for some snarling political repudiation, but he's much better than that.

I'm glad Bob Dylan wrote his acceptance speech the way he did. A true classy artist and gentleman.

[madaboutharry]

7. Humility is an important virtue.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

9. A song

[spanone]

10. Thanks