I just want something that is real and that moves people. And just want to make something real.

What I like is not a particular genre, it's storytelling. There's a lot of great storytelling in jazz, and in folk and in country music.

I've followed my voice rather than forcing it to emerge.

If I can make something real and it's appreciated and accessible to other people, I'm happy.

People are a lot more open than even they think they are. And I feel like I carry a heavy story about where I come from and those roots, but also what I like as a thinker.

Just because I'm a recording artist doesn't mean I'm not an artist. Because I had to grow.

I'm not angry. I can't sing that loud for that long anyway, I'll start coughing - I don't have the instrument for it. I don't feel that emotional. I'm at peace.

History isn't about dates and places and wars. It's about the people who fill the spaces between them.

Fools need advice most, but wise men only are the better for it.

Losing my virginity was very boring.

I'm familiar with Andrei Sakharov reputation, but I don't know his personal history at all.

When somebody mangles one of my jokes, that bothers me more than somebody saying that I'm the worst comedian ever.

Hospitality still survives among foreigners, although it is buried under false pride among the poorest Americans.

Quite obviously a cat trusts human beings; but she doesn't trust another cat because she knows better than we do.

History is the daughter of time.

As the father of six children, I know very well the challenges technology poses to our families.

I think I'm a very kindhearted person, I don't like to hurt people's feelings. If I do, it's not intentionally and I feel a lot of people nowadays have lost that.