I try not to be overly literal. When I'm writing songs, I write down a lot of words, and then I try to simplify it. I like to give people hints or words that make visual pictures for them.

We don’t need more ‘What if the mother is going to die’ debated, we need ‘I had an abortion because I was not ready to be a mother. It was my choice and my right. I own it. Back the f@#( up.

If you want to be noticed as a drop of water, why would you move to the ocean?

Country music is completely punk-rock. It's the original punk-rock.

The most tender place in my heart is for strangers. I know it's unkind, but my own blood is much too dangerous.

You're not supposed to totally know what's happening. The songs are supposed to give you clues so you can fill in the blanks.

The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight. The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You.

I would be a huge hypocrite if I didn't tell you that at one time in my life I thought the way that you made music was you got on a major label and you got famous.

Playing in an independent rock band will eventually make you equal parts truck driver, gladiator and mule. Glamour is for those with trust funds.

We shouldn't censor ourselves based on the weak idea of "looking cool." It's such a waste of potential awesomeness.

I grew up with lots of animals and I related more to them than I did to people. I feel a lot of empathy for them.

Real life's nasty. It's cruel. It doesn't care about heroes and happy endings and the way things should be. In real life, bad things happen. People die. Fights are lost. Evil often wins.

We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent.

Don't just buy a new video game, make one. Don't just download the latest app, help design it. Don't just play on your phone, program it.

That's the problem with having a moral code. We want to destroy the jerkish part of the jerks, but we want to save the human being underneath.

You can't have my heart, the doctor told me I'd be dead without it.

Being angry is like picking up a knife with no handle: it is self-harming.

Iblis (satan) himself recognizes the Lordship of Allah, but wants the human being to forget it

Valor consists in the power of self recovery.

If you had told Sycorax that her son Caliban was as handsome as Apollo, she would have been pleased, witch as she was.

Consciousness is a phase of mental life which arises in connection with the formation of new habits. When habit is formed, consciousness only interferes to spoil our performance.