I need music. It’s like my heartbeat, so to speak. It keeps me going no matter what’s going on – bad games, press, whatever!

My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit as well as physically.

This desk of mine is one at which a man may die, but from which he cannot resign.

For the introduction of a new kind of music must be shunned as imperiling the whole state; since styles of music are never disturbed without affecting the most important political institutions.

I play piano every day. I enjoy that.

When something an affliction happens to you, you either let it defeat you, or you defeat it.

When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.

When I listen to music these days, and I hear Pro Tools and drums that sound like a machine – it kinda sucks the life out of music.

I went through a lot of battles in high school.

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

There are old heads in the world who cannot help me by their example or advice to live worthily and satisfactorily to myself; but I believe that it is in my power to elevate myself this very hour above the common level of my life.

A lot of people don’t realise I came out of the Smoky Mountains with a load of songs.

I don’t like to beat people down. They need to be lifted up.

You can change your world by changing your words… Remember, death and life are in the power of the tongue.

What is once well done is done forever.

Education is not a problem. Education is an opportunity.

Writing makes you feel that there is a reason to go on living. If I couldn’t write, I would stop breathing.

It’s not necessary to fear the prospect of failure but to be determined not to fail.

What’s right about America is that although we have a mess of problems, we have great capacity – intellect and resources – to do some thing about them.

We are not animals. We are not a product of what has happened to us in our past. We have the power of choice.

I’ve always felt music is the only way to give an instantaneous moment the feel of slow motion. To romanticise it and glorify it and give it a soundtrack and a rhythm.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

If you’ve got a talent, protect it.

With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.

Anytime I feel lost, I pull out a map and stare. I stare until I have reminded myself that life is a giant adventure, so much to do, to see.

Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. There’s nothing to do but to stand there and take it.

The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.

All Montreal bands have around nine members, I believe.

I do put a lot of God in my music, but not because I’m super religious. There are a lot of demons in my music, too. I acknowledge both.

I don’t feel pressure in a negative way. I like pressure. I feel excitement and calm at the same time. No pressure, no diamonds. I want pressure: pressure creates drama, creates emotion.

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.

We will all fail in life, but nobody has to be a failure. Failing at a thing doesn’t make you a failure. You are only a failure when you quit trying.

If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.

I want to challenge you today to get out of your comfort zone. You have so much incredible potential on the inside. God has put gifts and talents in you that you probably don’t know anything about.

The young think that failure is the Siberian end of the line, banishment from all the living, and tend to do what I then did – which was to hide.

The secret of getting ahead is getting started.

Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness.

Music is part of the life of fashion, too.

I’ve always tended to write songs prolifically.

The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.

Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.

By perseverance the snail reached the ark.

If you talk bad about country music, it’s like saying bad things about my momma. Them’s fightin‘ words.

The man who has no problems is out of the game.

I knew the second I finished the first record – ‚House Of Balloons‘ – and had all this material leftover that a trilogy would be best.

Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible.

If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.

I get up every morning and say, ‚Father, give me strength today, not strength so I can lift 500 pounds, but give me strength, Lord, so when I speak, my words might motivate, might inspire somebody, Lord, when they see me, let them see you. When they hear me, Lord, let them hear you. In your holy name I pray.‘

‚They‘ is… stay away from them, please. There is so many different definitions of ‚they.‘ You might have a personal ‚they.‘ They against you; they want you broken and miserable. They don’t like winners; they don’t like people who’s blessed. So everybody’s got a different ‚they.‘

Power is the measure of the degree of control you have over circumstances in your life and the actions of the people around you. It is a skill that is developed by a deep understanding of human nature, of what truly motivates people, and of the manipulations necessary for advancement and protection.

Only you can control your future.

There is no way to prosperity, prosperity is the way.

Music, for me, is vital. Punjabi, Bollywood, Sufi, RnB… I listen to it all. When I’m not listening to music, you will find me chatting with friends. Off the field, I just let my instincts take over. I certainly don’t think about batting, or which bowlers I’m going to face.

I started writing at the kitchen table after midnight. It took ten months to finish that first book; I sent it to a publisher and I got some kind of prize, so it was like a dream – I was surprised to find it happening.

Have you not learned that strength comes to an ordinary soul when given an extraordinary calling?

Choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how you’re going to live your life.

Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained.

Where I come from it was really unheard of to be at a party and someone says, ‚What kind of music do you make?‘, and you say, ‚Pop music.‘ You may as well have ‚I’m not cool‘ stamped on your forehead.

Women have to summon up courage to fulfill dormant dreams.

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.

The course of true love never did run smooth.