“There’s no room in my life for religion. Religion is separation and segregation of God. How can you segregate the Almighty?”

The music is in the lead here, and a large part of this, I have no idea what I’m doing. I feel a closer bond with the craft of songwriting, stronger than I ever have.

Could’ve sworn I heard you say Amen this morning, showing some kind of sign that you believe. Did it fall from your tongue without warning? Or just another trick to fall from your sleeve?

Fearlessness, absolutely. Discipline. You also need open-minded creativeness that lets everything in. You never want to lose a word or a phrase, yet every one should count. Always the best language possible. And, finally, knowing when to leave it alone. Stop when it’s done.

It’s not easy for a mother and son to sing a duet. You can’t just sing about anything.

My family owns a music store in Claremont, California, called The Claremont Folk Music Center.

Every single time I step into the studio, I say, ‘Can I still do this? Do I still have it? Have I ever had it?’ I suppose there’s a good amount of self-loathing that goes into any form of artisanship.

If I fall, I fall. I’ll rise up like anybody else.

You can kill a lot of time if you really want to put your mind to it Or leave it all behind and never really have to go through it

Let us burn one from end to end, and pass it over to me my friend.

Don’t be discouraged by writer’s block. Writer’s block just means you need to listen to other music.

Don’t let what you have to heal from blind you to how much there is to heal for.

I can change the world With my own two hands Make a better place With my own two hands Make a kinder place.

The woman in you is the worry in me.

As long as the songs are strong, I think you can express yourself in any style and have it be soulful and have it be your own voice.

I refuse to age disgracefully in rock ‘n’ roll.

I’m not going to do the Ben Harper house record or the Ben Harper drum ‘n’ bass record.

As we’re staggering out of the hospital, I don’t remember doing this because I was still high, but apparently I turned to the entire operating room staff and screamed “Hey! I’d better not see this on YouTube!”

I love everything about motels. I can’t help myself. I still get excited every time I slip a key into a motel room door and fling it open.

We are the outcasts, we are the ones that are different, we are the ones that never got along with anyone else, we are the ones that went back to our rooms and put on our headphones and listened to those records that made us happy

I’m not into smoke-filled rooms. I don’t have the time for byzantine political intrigues.

I’m just the least funny person in a room full of funny people, which is basically every single day of work for me.

The click [of a light switch] is the modern triumphal clarion proceeding us through life, announcing our entry into every lightless room.

Unfortunately, my career is increasingly leading me into rooms where everybody is funny.

You don’t need a pickup line. Just glance at a woman from across the room. Glance – don’t stare.