I feel that when you care about your music, taking risks is something you should do to keep things exciting.

I think, generally, I just cannot really envision life without writing and producing records and singing.

Occasionally, I hanker for the time when I sold more records, but I don’t sit and drool about it. When I do look at early footage of Talking Heads, I realise I was just a wreck.

When I look at acting careers that I really admire, I see that it’s been a precise decision-making process for these people. They make decisions based on what they love, and they do only the things that they are passionate about. They play only characters that they can’t stop thinking about.

A song has to take on character, shape, body and influence people to an extent that they use it for their own devices. It must affect them not just as a song, but as a lifestyle.

Music is my shining light, my favorite thing in the world. T get me to stop doing it for one second would be difficult!

The thing about hip-hop today is it’s smart, it’s insightful. The way they can communicate a complex message in a very short space is remarkable.

The ear is the only true writer and the only true reader.

I think the idea of art kills creativity.

When I was in high school, there were these British blues-rock-type bands with really good guitar players that would jam on one song for half an hour. And as much as I was amazed by some of those guitar players, seeing them prompted me to make a note that that’s not something I could do.

‚House of Balloons‘ was special because I had no deadlines, and nobody knew me, so there were no expectations. Spent a year making it perfect. Every song had at least, like, 7 different versions to them before picking the right one.

When you are enthusiastic about what you do, you feel this positive energy. It’s very simple.

I felt I really wanted to back off from music completely and just work within the visual arts in some way. I started painting quite passionately at that time.

That’s why I hate to get started in these jam sessions. I’m always the last one to leave.

Historian: an unsuccessful novelist.

Sing me a new song; the world is transfigured; all the Heavens are rejoicing.

I like being a writer.

You make ‚em, I amuse ‚em.

I criticize by creation – not by finding fault.

Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for.

It’s so sweet, I feel like my teeth are rotting when I listen to the radio.

Every picture has its own demands, and every picture stimulates something within you to tell it a certain way. I don’t know what that is; I don’t think too much about that.

If I was just a fan of music, I would think that I was the number one artist in the world.

If you’re living in your time, you cannot help but to write about the things that are important.

Today, I’d like to talk to Bob Marley. I’d just like to ask him what was his method. Bob is one of the greatest songwriters ever. I don’t know if people understand how powerful his songs are and the simplicity and genius behind them, from ‚Redemption Song‘ to ‚Is This Love?‘ and ‚I Shot the Sheriff.‘

I went through all the musicians in my life who I admire as bright, intelligent, virtuosic players.

The prospect of music being detachable from time and place meant that one could start to think of music as a part of one’s furniture.

The assumption is that your personal life has to be a mess to create, but how much chaos can you allow in before it takes over?

It was that famous joke: What’s the last thing the drummer said before he got kicked out of the band? ‚Hey, I wrote a song.‘

Hawaiian music is beautiful and simple.

I find a lot of inspiration through visuals. When I was 12, I saw Aurora’s ‚Runaway‘ music video. Something inside me clicked, like, ‚That is what I want to do, no matter whether it goes anywhere or not.‘

Cows are my passion. What I have ever sighed for has been to retreat to a Swiss farm, and live entirely surrounded by cows – and china.

In case you’re wondering whether I lip synch, the answer is no… people think so because I sound so good.

Making music is like shopping for me. Every song is like a new pair of shoes.

Starting at about, I guess, forever, I’ve always looked forward to getting older. When I was 14, I couldn’t wait to be 16 and get a driver’s license.

When you seek the presence of your creative Spirit and are filled with passion about virtually everything you undertake, you’ll successfully remove the roadblocks from your life and enjoy the active presence of Spirit.

Every one of my regrets has produced a song I’m proud of.

Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.

Playing basketball all my life, I’ve collected a lot of different basketball shoes. It’s pretty much all I wear.

The absolute transformation of everything that we ever thought about music will take place within 10 years, and nothing is going to be able to stop it. I see absolutely no point in pretending that it’s not going to happen. I’m fully confident that copyright, for instance, will no longer exist in 10 years.

It’s a representation of yourself, and you can express a lot of your creativity with what your wearing.

I wanted to be famous for my music and my talent, and I always wished I could cut it out when I left the stage.

The real passion of the twentieth century is servitude.

When I do listen to music, I’m more prone to listen to the people I’ve always listened to: George Jones, Otis Redding, Alison Krauss and Emmylou Harris.

The Beatles created something that never trailed off. What a gift that was to their fans. If you’re into the Beatles, you loved them from beginning to end.

America is a poem in our eyes; its ample geography dazzles the imagination, and it will not wait long for metres.

When I listen to the radio, I just hear so much music that doesn’t even sound like people. The vocals are all tuned, and the drums are all fake.

Whenever I write a novel, music just sort of naturally slips in (much like cats do, I suppose).

I don’t live for the accolades. I’m more so about the music. Making it, and putting it out. Those are the two best feelings.

My work as an artist is completely separate from my work as a philanthropist.

Control thy passions lest they take vengence on thee.

The danger sensation is exciting. The challenge is to find new dangers.

An artist needn’t be a clergyman or a churchwarden, but he certainly must have a warm heart for his fellow men.

All art is but imitation of nature.

For a long time now I have tried simply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can.

I’m not interested in people positioning me next to other artists.

I don’t think anyone ever plans to change line-ups, but it’s something that comes with being in bands. I was in a band once and there were always problems – members come and go – and some of the world’s biggest bands have changed line-ups loads!

In business, success often depends upon the relative age of your ideas.

I kind of make a film for myself to sort of express myself.

There is nothing better than getting shot at and missed. It’s really great.

The design of the Mac wasn’t what it looked like, although that was part of it. Primarily, it was how it worked. To design something really well, you have to get it. You have to really grok what it’s all about. It takes a passionate commitment to really thoroughly understand something, chew it up, not just quickly swallow it.