Did Bob Marley say "Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet"?

Q: Did Bob Marley say "Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet"?

No. There is no evidence Bob Marley ever said or wrote this. According to Quote Investigator, the earliest documented use is a review of Roger Miller's ABC television special printed on 31 December 1972, and QI concludes Miller is "the most likely coiner." The Bob Marley and Bob Dylan credits surfaced only decades later with no source in either man's work.

Who really said it

Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet

Not Bob Marley — most likely Roger Miller Roger Miller 1936–1992 · American country singer-songwriter

Disputed In copyright

There is no evidence Bob Marley ever said or wrote this. According to Quote Investigator, the earliest documented use is a review of Roger Miller’s ABC television special printed on 31 December 1972, and QI concludes Miller is “the most likely coiner.” The Bob Marley and Bob Dylan credits surfaced only decades later with no source in either man’s work.

Last verified 8 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

Put it on a slide

Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet” Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet. — most likely Roger Miller (used on a 1972 TV special), not Bob Marley; per Quote Investigator

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Bob Marley. Use the credit shown above instead.

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Estate of Roger Miller). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool

In context

Evoking the world of Roger Miller — American country singer-songwriter. Theme: "Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The earliest documented source

Most likely coiner: Roger Miller
Earliest citation: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 31 Dec 1972
Original setting: Roger Miller’s ABC television special (broadcast 1 Jan 1973)
Popular (wrong) credit: Bob Marley

Some people feel the rain; others just get wet.

As quoted in a 31 December 1972 newspaper review of Roger Miller’s ABC television special, the earliest instance located by Quote Investigator.

Quote Investigator: full citation trail

How we verified this

Anchor: Quote Investigator finds the earliest instance in a 31 December 1972 Lubbock Avalanche-Journal review crediting Roger Miller, and repeated Roger Miller attributions through the 1970s.
By QI’s account, syndicated columnist Don Freeman of the San Diego Union ascribed the line to Miller on 21 December 1973 and again in 1978, and it appeared in Herb Cohen’s 1980 book You Can Negotiate Anything, all crediting Miller.
QI records the Bob Dylan credit only from 2007 and states it is “unlikely that Bob Dylan or Bob Marley crafted this expression” — the Marley credit has no early or sourced footing.

In copyright

The line is documented from a 1972 Roger Miller television performance — well after the 1931 U.S. public-domain cutoff — so if credited to Miller it is in copyright to his estate. Because even Quote Investigator calls Miller only the “most likely” coiner, the precise authorship carries some uncertainty, but the post-1931 date rules out public domain either way.

Fact-check

How Bob Marley got the credit

This is a textbook “famous name” misattribution: a warm, aphoristic line drifts onto a beloved icon who never said it. Quote Investigator’s citation trail runs through Roger Miller, not Bob Marley.

Bob Marley No source

Endlessly shared on Goodreads, memes and merchandise as Marley, but it appears in none of his songs, interviews or writings, and QI says it is “unlikely” he crafted it.

Bob Dylan Late & unsourced

Also widely credited to Dylan, but QI finds this attribution only from 2007 — more than three decades after the line was already in print under Roger Miller’s name.

The earliest documented use ties the line to Roger Miller on a 1972 television special, per Quote Investigator — not Bob Marley or Bob Dylan.

Context

Why the line resonates

The aphorism draws its punch from a simple reframe: the same rain falls on everyone, but attention turns a wet inconvenience into something felt and savored. That gentle, self-aware wit is exactly what made it a natural fit for Roger Miller’s television persona — and, later, an easy thing to pin on a reggae icon associated with sun, rain and easy wisdom.

The same rain falls on everyone; only some people bother to feel it.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Wisdom Happiness

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Investigator: full investigationquoteinvestigator.com

The authoritative citation trail attributing the line to Roger Miller (from 1972) and rejecting the Marley/Dylan credits.

Roger Miller (Wikipedia)en.wikipedia.org

Biography of the country singer-songwriter QI names as the most likely coiner.

Quote attributed to Bob Marleygoodreads.com

Shows the popular (unsourced) attribution of the line to Bob Marley.

Same line attributed to Bob Dylangoodreads.com

The competing celebrity credit, which QI dates only to 2007.

The most likely coiner

Roger Miller

1936–1992 · American country singer-songwriter

Roger Dean Miller was an American singer-songwriter famous for novelty and story songs such as “King of the Road” and “Dang Me,” winning eleven Grammy Awards in the 1960s. Known for quick, folksy wit in the tradition of Will Rogers, he hosted television specials on which, per Quote Investigator, he used this exact line — the earliest documented use anywhere.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Earliest documented citation

Earliest documented in a review of Roger Miller’s ABC television special, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 31 December 1972, as compiled by Quote Investigator, “Some People Feel the Rain. Others Just Get Wet,” 21 September 2012.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet’?” Last verified 8 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/some-people-feel-the-rain-others-just-get-wet