I think rock & roll has prepared me for a lot of flexibility.

I believe that if the Tribune company ever tries to close down Wrigley Field that you will have a protest from every corner of the globe.

If practice makes perfect, and no one's perfect, then why practice?

The ideology of the Smashing Pumpkins was ultimately more valuable than the music of the Smashing Pumpkins. That's what critics can't put their finger on.

I never wanted to leave the Smashing Pumpkins. That was never the plan.

I think a spiritual journey is not so much a journey of discovery. It's a journey of recovery. It's a journey of uncovering your own inner nature. It's already there.

Great music completely obliterates any conceptions of genre.

I was part of a generation that changed the world - and it was taken over by poseurs.

Saturn Return is just the return of your planets to their original position.

Compliments and criticism are all ultimately based on some form of projection.

Where is this great love for rock and roll that existed for 50 or 60 years?

It's always the idle habits you acquire which you will regret. Father said that. That Christ was not crucified: he was worn away by a minute clicking of little wheels. That had no sister.

I don't try to imagine a personal God; it suffices to stand in awe at the structure of the world, insofar as it allows our inadequate senses to appreciate it.

Avoid theatrical flourishes - the phrases that sound so damned good that they stand up and beg to be recognized as "good writing," and therefore must be struck from the text.

I wish to explore the beauty of everyday environments; in troubled times it is especially important to be aware of beauty and wonder.

God created the world to be praised on the subtle nature of his existence.

I was in tailoring business, I sold flowers on the street, I worked construction and many odd jobs.

There is no opinion so stupid that it can't be expressed by some philosopher.

Modernism: the books are as hard to understand as life itself.

To find your angels... Start trusting your inner voice and intuition

Pain ... after you've lived with it long enough, isn't pain anymore. It's something else.