I was born out of classical music.

Strangely, I feel that I become increasingly reclusive in my normal life and more open and candid in my music.

I make mistakes. I say stupid things. I do idiotic things. And, quite frankly, I'm proud of them. Why not make mistakes?

I realize that of all people, I am no expert on parenting or marriage.

Sometimes I dress like what I want for lunch, because all I can think about is having a tuna sandwich.

I was brought up in many different cultures, moving around all the time, and I find my identity in my songs. I project the identity I want to have throughout the songs that I write.

When you're not part of a club, you have to find another way of surviving.

I have opinions on everything. I'm a stubborn old mule. The biggest problem is keeping my mouth shut.

The stage is my territory, my boxing ring. That's where I'm free.

I say I have a midlife crisis every time I start and finish a record.

You can only get over your fears if you attack them head on.

It was around then that the phone rang. It was my friend Cee Cee, wanting to know if I cared to join her and Adam McTavish at the Coffee Clutch to drink iced tea and talk bad about everyone we know.

Curiosity is only vanity. We usually only want to know something so that we can talk about it.

There are moments when a man's imagination, so easily subdued to what it lives in, suddenly rises above its daily level and surveys the long windings of destiny.

It's a strange thought that sometimes God trusts us more than we trust Him. God trusts you - can you trust Him?

All doctrine is ultimately the death of joy - even when the doctrine is the elevation of the light above the serious, because joy is too varied and elusive ever to confine itself to one or the other.

I think that people are entitled to be amused, and entertained. If they see deviations from this classical norm, it's probably good for their mental health.

I always like to borrow bits and pieces of things. There's a line between jumping on something that's happening and incorporating bits and pieces of it into my work.

We bring together the best ideas - turning the meetings of our top managers into intellectual orgies.

Everybody in politics claims to want to get everybody out of poverty. What's the opposite? Wealth. And what is often criticized by the left? Wealth.

I talked with Quentin about where the character came from, and he told me Kansas City. I don't know how somebody talks from Kansas City, so I made him from New York.