“Let’s say I’m at a party and I don’t like the feeling I’m getting, I’ll just leave. Why do I have to be there?”

I can tell when something’s real, or when something’s put together. I can just feel it.

I ran away for a couple of years just to prove I’d never been free.

I just find that with music I’ve always felt a sort of comfort.

You start treating your body right and your immune system is better.

I like to write pop songs and the stuff I write is fairly poppy, so I thought maybe my lot in life was to write pop songs for people. It never felt right writing songs for other people to sing, though.

When I cruise around, I can’t help but study people’s faces and emotions and wonder why they’re feeling the way they are.

Since I was a kid, when I pick up my guitar it’s been hard for me to write some sort of bubblegum lyrics. It’s not really ever been my route.

Trying to put music out there in the world is a pretty exciting, yet terrifying, thing and I’ve just been through the ringer.

I’ve had the same core group of friends that I’ve always had. We’re surfing, so that definitely keeps you grounded.

Never let your fear decide your fate.

There’s a bunch of songs that I call B-sides on the record that you could argue could maybe have some potential commercial success with another artist, but for me, they just felt really whack.

My first attempt at real music was when I was 13. My first signed band was when I was 21; that failed. I got another deal at 26; that failed, and then I was broke.

I have a lot of questions and I don’t have that many answers. So what better place to exercise those thoughts than the lyrics, I guess.

I find that a lot of times when family members get bronchitis or the flu or something like that, I’ll kind of skate through and be really lucky and not get that sick.

I want to surround myself with the people I care about and that has a lot to do with what love is. It’s surrounding yourself with the people you do love and trust, and that kind of thing.

If you’re waiting around for something to be handed to you or win the lottery, chances are nothing is ever going to go down, you know, so you got to make it happen on your own.

I see that the greatest thing about getting older is how your judgment changes and how you come to understand the cycles of life. And you keep having these amazing flashes of understanding.

It was a weird mix of emotions. One day, your best friend could be killed. The day before, you could be celebrating him getting a brand-new bike.

I’m happy that I can focus on my body a little bit. I’m not happy to get surgery, but I’m happy that I can focus on getting better.

It’s a short letter – all she said was, ‘Hey, since it’s harder for you to go out these days without getting photographed, here $10 for a pizza.’ I was like, ‘Aww, she sent me money for a pizza so I could eat at home!’

Every day I’m getting shaped and molded. Keepin’ on, being a better artist, and improving on this, improving on that.

There is nothing wrong with getting a bus. Nothing in any way demeaning about boarding a huge smelly communal vehicle that will rumble noisily and very slowly in the vague direction of the place you need to get to and then dump you half a mile away in the freezing wind and rain.

In the ’80s, I was the only game in town, I was the only one getting that kind of exposure in any rotation on MTV.

You see guys getting in trouble, but you also see the good in people. It’s just a matter of always learning.