You know I ain't never prayed before 'Cause it always seemed to me That prayin's the same as beggin' Lord, I don't take no charity.

Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world, and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that.

America's criminal justice system isn't known for rehabilitation. I'm not sure that, as a society, we are even interested in that concept anymore.

I don't believe that songwriting has to be profound, but I truly believe that it's a crime for you to go outta your way for it not to be.

I have a low tolerance for mediocrity in music and life. I'm into pain and joy and the in-between doesn't interest me.

Actually, in its purest form, Islam is incredibly tolerant. That makes what's going on in the world really bizarre.

All we do as songwriters is rewrite the songs that have impressed us till we find our own voice. It's part of learning the craft.

You see things differently at 40 than you do at 31. Especially if you got to 40 the way I did.

Every day on Earth is another chance to get it right.

I don't really think in terms of obstacles. My biggest obstacle is always myself.

To me, religion is an agreement between a group of people about what God is. Spirituality is a one-on-one relationship.

Very soon the world too will see what GOD sees in you.

Guido the plumber and Michelangelo obtained their marble from the same quarry but what each saw in the marble made the difference between a nobleman's sink and a brilliant sculpture.

To build a road is so much simpler than to think of what the country really needs.

There is only one China. Taiwan is not independent. It does not enjoy sovereignty as a nation.

Clowns drink to blot out the ravages of terrifying children for a living.

We also have to stop the flow of precursor chemicals that meth cooks use to boil up this poison.

I am an optimistic lady.

...boredom was as exhausting as backbreaking labor.

I'm not tryin' to come off as the best lyricist.

I suffer from peroxide phobia. Every time I've gotten near a blond woman, something of mine has disappeared. Jobs, boyfriends... one time an angora sweater leaped right off my body.