Actual patriotism has to do with loving a place enough to try and improve it.

The Flaming Lips have been on Warner Bros. forever, and certainly everything I heard growing up was on a major label in some way, from the Cure to Radiohead to Bjork.

Being in a rock band, I feel a certain responsibility to have a weird haircut. I mean, who else gets to do that?

Music is made by individuals. Some artists will be very politically overt in their songs, some will be more subtle. You have to be true to yourself, true to your nature.

The idea of dancing to bad house music is something I could never get behind.

I think of hip hop as a mass media, radio, MTV thing. It’s been extremely relevant over the last 10 years and rock music is just not anymore—-a tear rolls down my cheek as I say that.

Whenever you do anything or say anything, you're opening yourself up to criticism. But that's okay.

What I miss [about church] is being forced to be in community with people that aren't the same as me.

A lot of artists write about the same things their whole career.

I think filmmakers all secretly wanna be musicians and all musicians secretly wanna be filmmakers.

The film Black Orpheus is one of my favorite films of all time, which is set in Carnival in Brazil.

I’m not putting that in my mouth.

What makes me really happy is a walk in the English countryside. A nice sunset, that British countryside - it means I'm home.

Books are men of higher stature, and the only men that speak aloud for future times to hear.

We should realize that our deadliest enemies are anger and other delusions. Since these delusions are deeply ingrained mental habits, working to overcome them is not always easy.

Praying doesn't mean repeating a prayer.

Two equally steep and bold paths may lead to the same peak. To act as if death did not exist, or to act thinking every minute of death, is perhaps the same thing.

The only economic paradigm that movies have ever known is capitalism. There were no church sponsors or state patronage. The idea was that if you'd pay to see it, we'll make it for you.

I don't believe in curfews, because you can't treat men like they were boys without forfeiting a certain level of trust.

I do not exactly remember at what period I started my museum which absorbed so much of my time.

The best recreation is to do good.