Creativity Quote by Dave Van Ronk

A folk singer calling himself “a very, very stubborn man” isn’t just confessing a personality flaw; it’s staking out a whole operating system. Dave Van Ronk came up in the Greenwich Village scene where ideals were currency and compromise could read as betrayal. In that world, stubbornness doubles as authenticity: a refusal to sand down your edges for labels, trends, or even your own mythology. The doubled “very, very” has the feel of a shrugging aside-eye, like he’s preempting the obvious rebuttal: yes, it’s made things harder; no, he’s not interested in reform.

The intent is blunt self-definition, but the subtext is defensive pride. Van Ronk’s career was famously adjacent to bigger fame - the guy who helped build a scene that often crowned other people. Calling himself stubborn hints at why: stubbornness keeps you from chasing the center of the spotlight if the spotlight demands you change your repertoire, your politics, your loyalties, your voice. It’s a badge for a musician who valued craft and community over the market’s idea of a “breakthrough.”

Context matters because folk revivals run on stories of purity and sellout. Van Ronk’s line punctures that romance: he’s not claiming sainthood, just admitting an obstinate temperament that can look like principle from one angle and self-sabotage from another. The power of the quote is its honesty-as-posture: he makes a virtue out of the trait that likely complicated his life, and invites you to respect him for it anyway.