“I compare songwriting to childbirth. How many kids can you have before your uterus explodes?”

Loneliness will get to you somehow But ev’rybody loves you now.

I really wish I was less of a thinking man and more of a fool not afraid of rejection.

I’m single but interviewing.

Most people you’d tell “I’m gonna be a musician,” they’d say, “you’re crazy, you’re gonna starve, you’re gonna be poor, a drug addict, go to jail, you’ll never make it, there’s too much competition.

Some love is just a lie of the heart, the cold remains of what began with a passionate heart.

Davey Crocket, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland.

Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes; I’m afraid it’s time for goodbye again

You can pay Uncle Sam with all your overtime, is that all you get for your money?

There are people who have lost every trace of human kindness.

We all end in the ocean. We all start in the streams. We’re all carried along, by the river of dreams.

I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints – the sinners are much more fun.

…And you’re the only one who knows.

You can walk away from your mistakes You can turn your back on what you do Just a little smile is all it takes And you can have your cake and eat it too.

You want to give people a reason to hate my guts more? I’m making more money.

Even when I stop performing or stop making records I won’t stop being creative. Songwriting is a good outlet.

Give us this day our daily discount outlet merchandise…

I hang out all the time with kids and young scouts and I never meet kids who don’t want adventure.

Survival is not about being fearless. It’s about making a decision, getting on and doing it, because I want to see my kids again, or whatever the reason might be.

Americans are cool, if you show just a chink of vulnerability, they respond so much. They’ll pat you on the arm and say, ‘Hey kid, you’re all right’. Brits will respond but they are much more cynical.

I hadn’t learned to read by third grade, which wasn’t unusual for some kids. I knew something was wrong because I couldn’t see or understand the words the way the other kids did. I wasn’t the least bit bothered – until I was sent back to the second-grade classroom for reading help after school.

The public is ready now for a safety net for the middle class, something not just for the poor, but for everyone who will need help, from time to time, in order to own a home, educate their kids, keep themselves healthy or have something to retire on.

I always had a really natural faith as a kid. Where I knew God existed and it felt very free and pretty wild and natural, and it wasn’t religious.

Kids can be a pain in the neck when they’re not a lump in your throat.

For a seriously autistic kid, the best prognosis might be getting into a mainstream school without being too much of a shadow. For a moderately autistic kid the best prognosis is full recovery.