“As a songwriter, I don’t rush. I may sit on lyrics for two years before the music hits.”

You have to do what you believe in.

Life is short and if you’re looking for extension, you had best do well. ‘Cause there’s good deeds and then there’s good intentions. They are as far apart as Heaven and Hell.

Just because you have a hit doesn’t mean you’re good [at music]. Just means you got a hit.

If you don’t like my fire, then don’t come around. Cause I’m gonna burn one down.

If interviews are just interviews or if music is just music, why are we even doing it? You only get so many hours in a lifetime, man.

I can’t not put myself in the shoes of every person I pass.

I want to try to be who I am today, not who I was yesterday.

These eyes weren’t made for crying, this love wasn’t made to waste. These arms weren’t made for battle, but to share in your embrace.

I appreciate that something I’ve done has found a safe place to land.

There’s only one proper way a song should go, but you’ve got to be patient enough to let them come together time wise.

I’m a living sunset, lightning in my bones.

Take my hand when you are worried Take my hand when you’re alone Take my hand and let me guide you Take my hand to lead you home.

Children come running to the truth But you’ve got to peel the skin to get the fruit And while one’s living high another’s grieving But what’s sweet by morning is bitter by the evening Oh – What’s sweet by morning is bitter by the evening.

People say, “How do you write songs?” I say, “Patience.” I may have a track that’s hot, but no words. I’ll just let it sit for years, because I know they’re going to meet. They’ll find it.

As long as someone else controls your history the truth shall remain just a mystery

I want to try to not be the child that had to go through too much too young. I want to be who I am now and not who I was then.

Belief in oneself is incredibly infectious. It generates momentum, the collective force of which far outweighs any kernel of self-doubt that may creep in.

Let us all agree to die a little, or even completely so that African unity may not be a vain word

The moment that you are willing to step outside of tomorrow, outside of needing more time, or having more time, everything becomes possible. And you may finally notice where the Buddha has always been.

The process of finding the truth may not be a process by which we feel increasingly better and better. It may be a process by which we look at things honestly, sincerely, truthfully, and that may or may not be an easy thing to do.

Grace is something that comes to us when we somehow find ourselves completely available, when we become openhearted and open-minded, and are willing to entertain the possibility that we may not know what we think we know.

The mind may accept or deny that you are awareness, but either way it can’t really understand. It cannot comprehend. Thought cannot comprehend what is beyond thought.

When you stand in your own authority, based in your own direct experience, you meet that ultimate mystery that you are. Even though it may be at first unsettling to look into your own no-thingness.

But I see no reason why a woman should not grow and develop in all those outlets which are suited to her nature, it matters not at all what they may be.