There are several books out on punk history, but I haven't read any of them. I was there.

We were excited when we sold our first 10 records. I always felt that if we could get the music out there, and if people became accustomed to it, then a substantial number of them would enjoy it.

The Minutemen were seen as more of an art thing than Black Flag, although I didn't see them that way. It confused people when we put out Saccharine Trust, too.

Punk rock really came out of N.Y. as a philosophy before the groups were ever recorded. I had a kind-of intellectual interest in the idea of creating a new scene that could be a grassroots thing.

The biggest disappointment has been seeing the number of people in this business with very shortsighted views.

I still think the best metal bands have a blues feel. The first Black Sabbath album is kind of a bludgeoning of blues. Deep Purple also started out as a blues band.

The small companies who feel that the majors are a threat, or are predators, will use that as an excuse for their eventual downfall. Dont blame others for your own inadequacies.

Black Flag was formed in 1977. We first recorded in 1978.

Most good things happen with time; especially music, which needs time to breathe and to find its own way.

We've gotten involved in cat rescue we take them in and find homes for them. I've always loved cats. I saw how homeless cats were living out there. We take them in, put out flyers.

If people are really excited about their music, and that's their primary motivation, then that comes through in demo tapes. That's the most important ingredient.

The boy took my sketchbook.

This is the tragedy of knowing my fate: I have seen how it ends, and I will walk right into it, and nothing will change.

A Dionysian life task needs the hardness of the hammer and one of its first essentials is without doubt the joy to be found even in destruction.

I have never been able to carry out any work coolly. On the contrary it is done, so to speak, with my own blood.

I think the reason we might hesitate to pay cash to students for doing well on tests or getting good grades or reading books is that we sense that the monetary payment is an extrinsic reward.

and a fact is the most stubborn thing in the world.

Don't be like those people who believe in "positive thinking" and tell themselves that they're loved and strong and capable. You don't need to do that because you know it already.

I think one of the major things a director has to do is to know his subject matter, the subject matter of his script, know the truth and the reality of it. That's very important.

There were so many levels to the unknown, from safe to dangerous to outright nebulous, scariest of all.

Read the Word. Consume the Word until it consumes you. Believe the Word. Act on the Word.