By the time I was 19, punk had occurred. It had a completely different cultural dynamic to it which rejected everything and started again from the year zero.

I try and write honestly about what I see around me now.

Freedom is merely privilege extended, unless enjoyed by one and all.

I've had songs written during the Falklands war, and during the first Gulf war I got letters from soldiers saying they were listening to these songs, like Island of no return.

I'm still batting away on my politics for the Labour Party. I'm much further to the left of them than I used to be, but that's because they've moved, not me.

You can experience a download, but you can't download an experience.

War what is it good for? It's good for business.

A virtue never tested is no virtue at all.

If there is a single trait in our character that has historically set us apart from other nations, it is our determination to limit the authority of those who rule over us.

What corporations fear most are consumers who ask questions. Naomi Klein offers us the arguments with which to take on the superbrands.

Mixing pop and politics he asks me what the use is / I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses.

And the movement in your brainSends you out into the rain

[David] Mamet's the writer I admire most but he's way off from when he tries to talk about what the moral appeal of liberal thought is. His heart is not in it.

We ought to recognize that religious strife is not the consequence of differences among people. It's about conflicts between creation stories.

I'd like to do something involving jazz. But books are how I earn my living, and I'd like to stay with the horse I rode in on.

Don't tell friends their social faults; they will cure the fault and never forgive you.

My favorite Aggie joke? I'm sorry I don't understand the question

You can mean more than one. You can mean thousands. I'm not in any immediate danger, I'll say to you. I'll pretend you can hear me. But it's no good, because I know you can't.

Before you invest in something, invest the time to understand it

I believe that social security should be a universal retirement guarantee and not means tested.

If you say someone is good, at something, what is your benchmark? Who are you comparing them with? When evaluating capability, or success, in anything, don't listen to mumbo-jumbo rubbish.