You can't really praise somebody's work and then criticize the process.

I'm fascinated by the whole concept of snake handling. When you read about the Pentecostal snake handlers, what strikes you the most is their commitment.

I'm just like everyone. I like to feel togetherness with someone.

So few people are truly themselves when they're in the spotlight.

I'm not just a doormat. I'm not just being stepped on all over the place. If you look at the bulk of my material, it's about trying to find some strength through that.

People let their own hang-ups become the obstacles between them and personal happiness.

As it turns out, now is the moment you've been waiting for

I guess you could write a good song if your heart hadn't been broken, but I don't know of anyone whose heart hasn't been broken.

The perfect man? A poet on a motorcycle.

First thing, I throw on some jeans, a T-shirt and my Keds sneakers and make coffee. That is actually my favorite time of day. That is when I do my songwriting, when I am in writing mode.

Have compassion for everyone you meet, even if they don’t want it.

Success follows those who champion a cause greater than themselves.

One lifetime is never enough to accomplish one's horticultural goals. If a garden is a site for the imagination, how can we be very far from the beginning?

No mirror keeps its glances.

The illegal drug trade is the financial engine that fuels many terrorist organizations around the world, including Osama bin Laden.

There ought to be system of manners in every nation which a well-formed mind would be disposed to relish. To make us love our country, our country ought to be lovely.

The blooming of a flower is, in my mind, not a miracle. It's something that we can understand on the basis of molecular biology these days.

I try to write songs just for the song itself. I don't try and think about where it's going to end up, that way you're writing for the good of the song.

Sometimes a step forward needs a step back.

Requiring a lot of time does not make a task important.

All that land is filled with people, every one of them different, and the things they do to each other matter.