Every leap forward that I make is by reaching back and firmly getting a footing in the past, and pushing forward as hard as I can.

Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world, and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that.

America's criminal justice system isn't known for rehabilitation. I'm not sure that, as a society, we are even interested in that concept anymore.

I don't believe that songwriting has to be profound, but I truly believe that it's a crime for you to go outta your way for it not to be.

I have a low tolerance for mediocrity in music and life. I'm into pain and joy and the in-between doesn't interest me.

Actually, in its purest form, Islam is incredibly tolerant. That makes what's going on in the world really bizarre.

All we do as songwriters is rewrite the songs that have impressed us till we find our own voice. It's part of learning the craft.

You see things differently at 40 than you do at 31. Especially if you got to 40 the way I did.

Every day on Earth is another chance to get it right.

I don't really think in terms of obstacles. My biggest obstacle is always myself.

To me, religion is an agreement between a group of people about what God is. Spirituality is a one-on-one relationship.

Though they won't say, it has been estimated that Cargill and ADM together probably buy somewhere near a third of all the corn grown in America.

In innocence everything has its truest meaning.

Non-violence and truth are inseparable and presuppose one another.

Nay, in death's hand, the grape-stone proves As strong as thunder is in Jove's.

I know that as a writer I'm trying to, in some small way, return the gift that I got, and maybe provide a reader the kind of experience that has changed my life.

The true definition of a perennial: Any plant which, had it lived, would have bloomed year after year.

Successful people stick to what they are good at and find ways to make that larger.

It's hard to have a friend when your name's a household word.

I know many beautiful people and their lives are just so terrible. They feel so uncomfortable with themselves. Being comfortable is not about what you look like, but how you feel.

A lot of people dont get second chances.