Bowie's obviously my biggest influence.

Rock and roll doesn't allow you to grow up - especially if you're not trying very hard to.

The thing is, unfortunately, I write the best songs when I'm miserable.

You are only as big as your experiences.

I can't read sheet music, I have to just listen to it, and then just go for it.

Computers and the Internet have made it really easy to rant. It's made everyone overly opinionated.

Making an album should be an honest experience. It shouldn't be about trying to gauge where popular music is today; it should be about artistic expression and putting down what you want to put down.

Sing the song or keep it inside.

I tend to get my hands into all these other things and all these distractions, and after a while I start feeling depleted.

I prefer a three-piece suit myself. Very sixties rock and roll. But they're not too quirky. Businessmen could wear them.

Writing the songs and producing the songs and arranging them and recording them is your canvas and your palette and your brush.

Dedicate yourself to what gives your life true meaning and purpose

It’s a difficult thing to be a man. To try to be noble and honorable in a world of conflict and strife. To distinguish selfish desire from sincere concern. To know when to fight and when to forfeit.

America has a unique type of slavery that looks like freedom.

Where I grew up in the North-east, the community there, and the way people relate to one another, goes very deep. But I don't define myself as a Northerner in that I don't live in the North.

Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at.

The Church is not the building, its the people, its not just the gathering, its also the scattering.

Call me Jonah. My parents did, or nearly did. They called me John.

Compassion gives us a common ground to stand on regardless of your faith background. It gives us a chance to stand shoulder-to-shoulder rather than go fist-to-fist with somebody.

You cannot penetrate events with reportage.

What new psychology suggests, it's the factor that is top of consciousness at the moment before you make that economic decision that will win the day.