I grew up as a Catholic, and there was so much that was beautiful there, and also so much that was troubling. The whole patriarchal thing, the whole male-dominated approach, really bothered me.

Fame is a can of worms I haven't really had to contend with.

Most everything means nothing, except some things that mean everything.

You must always know how long to stay; and when to go.

I think there are times when a song can be a spiritual experience - just making music, in general, is pretty much that.

Most people like the sad songs. Some of the oldest songs known to man are sad. Listening to a voice singing something sad is a really great way to help you to feel sad when you need to.

It's occurred to me I need to laugh at myself more and that I don't need to be some sad folk singer all the time. I don't want to be the queen of pain.

I think listeners are hungry to hear quality.

I don't necessarily buy any key to the future of happiness, but I need a little place in the sun sometimes or I think I will die.

Often I have to move my body in a certain way, like exercising, to begin to get into the right rhythm for writing a song.

But darling, I wish you well On your way to the wishing well

You are too blessed to ever dare to settle for an empty life.

Conscience is a mother-in-law whose visit never ends.

Living on purpose requires us to find what we love fiercely, give it all we've got and then pass it on, as if it were a torch, to those who follow

I wanted to be a certain kind of woman. I became that kind of woman.

Of course, there is no reconciliation between the theory of evolution by natural selection and the traditional religious view of the origin of the human mind.

Under our scheme of government the waste of public money is a crime against the citizen.

Now remember, kids, the internet is serious business.

It was the patient, cut-flower sound of a man who is waiting to die.

Is it really so that the one I love is everywhere?

Just as women needed the help of the law to enter the workplace in the 20th century, men will need the help of the law to love their children in the 21st century.