Normally when I'm writing, in the beginning I don't think of lyrics at all. I'm just improvising.

The hands find a way to do what the heart wants to say

If you lack technique you lose the freedom to create.

I didn't study music. I literally lived it.

With the guitar I've suffered a great deal, but when I've had a good time, the suffering seemed worthwhile.

I believe that people have to be sensitized more about the many jobs an individual can branch out to after studying an art form.

You may be surprised to know that growing up, I wanted to be a writer of children's books.

What I love about African-African music is how unselfconscious it is in so many ways.

In general, even if I'm dealing with a historical subject, I begin with invention rather than investigation, because I need to understand what is going to be the voice or the tone of the story.

I have noticed that these days, people don't want to take their time to succeed.

As a visual arts teacher, I have to keep my mind open. I have explores styles from pointillism to cubism.

People aren't either wicked or noble. They're like chef's salads, with good things and bad things chopped and mixed together in a vinaigrette of confusion and conflict.

It is infinitely better to rely on the pursuit of economic interest by landowners or street companies than to depend on the dubious “altruism” of bureaucrats and government officials.

Goodness is something that makes us serene and content it is magnificent. Those who are not good are evil.

I'm a fighter by nature and nothing will ever change that.

When I'm hiring, I don't look for credentials, I look for knowledge.

Of course you'll encounter trouble. But behold a God of power who can take any evil and turn it into a door of hope.

I approach poetry and spirituality like literary nitroglycerin -- a little can do a lot and you better damn well be careful with it.

Pitching... sometimes I did so poorly, it brought me to tears

True and baseless evil is as rare as the purest good - and we all know how rare that is.

Free spirited free riders they're on their way but don't know where they're going.