It's hard for bands to stick it out because people grow up, and it never really pays off. If you're looking for some sort of payoff, it's not gonna happen

Each member does whatever they want with the song and it totally changes it from whatever idea I hear around it. It turns it into a Sonic Youth song and completely away from it being a solo song.

Lyric writing is an interesting process in Sonic Youth. There's three people writing now, and we've all had a lot of interest and involvement with expression through words

Buddhism has become a socially recognized religious philosophy for Americans, whereas it used to be considered an exotic religion.

I certainly don't sit around in the morning making pancakes listening to Whitehouse or anything.

I never go back and listen to the recorded document. The thrill comes when the balance can be attained. Everyone in the room can have a shared, communal rock experience.

Rock'n'roll saved my soul.

Every now and again, the alternative culture is cherished by the mainstream for what it is, rather than how it should be, like the mainstream popular music.

I have to reign myself in a lot.

Hits are for squares.

I never do releases to try and make or break some contemporary band.

When you finally decide to face all your fears, then be assured that success is knocking at your door.

First seek happiness from within, then you will find it without.

Religion is about hospitality, solidarity, and responsibility or it is nothing at all.

Audiences are not easily fooled, but they are easily confused.

I have always been honest about my recollection of events.

I think media are at their most interesting before anybody's thought of calling them art, when people still think they're just a load of junk.

I have a Sharpie. I love Sharpies. You know what they say on them? Not for letter writing. That sucks. Now I have to communicate with my dad using numbers.

The country was founded on the principle that primary role of government is to protect property from the majority, and so it remains.

The French have a different take on photography than Americans do. They consider photography to be absolutely parallel to literature. That often makes for a deeper perception of the work.

Because you cannot see him, God is everywhere.