Don't try to be someone else. Be yourself.

My family was into music. My dad was into music down south. My mom and grandmother were into gospel music so there were all types. That was my inspiration.

Just immerse yourself in the culture of the music - it will open some doors for you.

I'm a firm believer that you learn a hell of a lot more from your failures than you do from your successes.

Nowadays it's hard to get somebody to invest the time - everybody wants to be famous rather than be a good musician.

I'm just a restless soul musically.

Some of the best advice I was given was that me doing a bad version of me is better than me doing a good version of someone else.

When you are sitting in a room and somebody does something or says something and a thought comes, an idea or a melody - you have to just grab it while it's there because it will go away.

I like to say that I had a really good musical education because it was inclusive of all styles of music and I like it like that.

I learned that day that there is no more lonely state than being in a lonely marriage.

Most people want so desperately to be an individual yet are so easily shaped by the media.

Wealth is to be created first, then to be shared. What to share if there is no wealth?

The more you give, the more you can give.

No gossip ever dies away entirely if many people voice it: it too is a kind of divinity.

I can see it, Ed, I leaned deeper into you, felt you nodding along with the sounds in the room, and your warmth signaled through to me from under your shirt, lovely strong, safe and right.

The business is all about gush and hype. You never have a bad meeting in L.A.

You can embark on new and steeper versions of your old sins, you know, and cry tears while doing it that are genuine as any.

There is no virtue inherent in un-constructive suffering.

First, cut out all the wisdom, then cut out all the adjectives.