I was born in Sacramento but moved to Los Angeles with my mom and my little sister when I was seven.

I was home-schooled, was always very close with my mom and was very straight-laced and square. I was never the rebellious one, and I never threw hissy fits.

I was listening to a lot of Norwegian black metal and death metal. There's a great history to Norwegian black metal. That music is very dark and violent, but it's also beautiful.

I'm learning with the older that I get that some feelings are just universal and that I'm not the only one who hates their hair or their life at times.

It's really hard to see yourself and to recognize that you are a human being like everybody else. You just think everybody's judging you.

Sometimes I laugh with my parents, and sometimes I yell at them, and both are therapeutic.

For me, the dumbest rule is that you can't chew gum in school. For some reason, chewing gum for me gets my brain going.

I usually get my lyrics when I let my mind wander, when you're not really awake, but not yet fully asleep. I keep an open notebook by my bed and then just write whatever comes to me.

I want more awareness of humanity in this world.

I'm so used to swimming with the piranhas. And they're really not that bad.

It's very scary to allow the world to see you.

How can anyone underestimate the ballistic quality of words? Invisible things happen in intangible moments. What should keep us writing is precisely that possibility of explosions

I've had extraordinary good luck with my health, other than a broken elbow.

When I was 24 I went to Nigeria and it was such a culture shock, growing up in Australia and suddenly being the only white man in this unit full of black men.

I love watching American League games, you know what I mean?

When good Americans die, they go to Paris,' the ghost said, after taking a drag on a small cigarette. But you’re not dead. I suppose the question must be, are you good?

The idea isn't to find yourself another environment for tomorrow, but to be constantly creating the environment and community you want for yourself, no matter what may occur.

Human intellect is natures attempt at self criticism

Nature in America has always been suspect, on the defensive, cannibalized by progress. In America, every specimen becomes a relic.

There is a joy available that the deepest grief cannot put out. No circumstance or person can take away the joy God gives.

We're going to see leadership emerge as the most important element of business - the attribute that is highest in demand and shortest in supply.