I usually have an idea of how I want a song to sound, but I don't always know how to get there

I'm fascinated by the whole concept of snake handling. When you read about the Pentecostal snake handlers, what strikes you the most is their commitment.

I'm just like everyone. I like to feel togetherness with someone.

So few people are truly themselves when they're in the spotlight.

I'm not just a doormat. I'm not just being stepped on all over the place. If you look at the bulk of my material, it's about trying to find some strength through that.

People let their own hang-ups become the obstacles between them and personal happiness.

As it turns out, now is the moment you've been waiting for

I guess you could write a good song if your heart hadn't been broken, but I don't know of anyone whose heart hasn't been broken.

The perfect man? A poet on a motorcycle.

First thing, I throw on some jeans, a T-shirt and my Keds sneakers and make coffee. That is actually my favorite time of day. That is when I do my songwriting, when I am in writing mode.

Have compassion for everyone you meet, even if they don’t want it.

I suppose therefore God is the connoisseur of filthied hearts and souls, and can see the old, the first pattern in them, and cherish them for that.

Some men are like swords, made for fighting. Hang them and they go to rust.

If we have received a precious gift from God, it is our imagination. When we tap into our powers of imagination, we are bombs of possibilities.

So, now I've been to see a drug counselor who told me I need to lay off the drugs and talk about my feelings, and a shrink who heard what I had to say and immediately put me on drugs.

Free trade is not a principle, it is an expedient.

Our bodies need real, fresh food to maintain health.

Whether you are a business leader or political leader, you need people around you who are prepared to tell the truth.

Even the wisest woman you talk to is ignorant of something you may know, but an elegant woman never forgets her elegance.

Television has made dictatorship impossible but democracy unbearable.

It is my belief that people who speak of high school with a sugary fondness are bluffing away early-onset Alzheimer's.