“Some of the punks didn’t know what to make of us, but I finally realized that was what made us punk. We sang what we meant, from the heart, and didn’t worry about what anyone was going to think.”

We’ve been a band for 16 years. This is what you dream about.

I just open my mouth and out it comes.

We are not afraid to be entertainers.

When someone is in a car accident and they’re driving at 100 mph, drunk, who’s tape do you think his listening to at that time? Think about it.

Set lists are tough because you come up with this structure of how the songs are going to go from one to the next, but at the same time, you have to be spontaneous and take requests and change the set list at the drop of a hat.

The main thing about the character [in the Ordinary World] is that he loves music, and he shares it with his daughter. He’s having a mid-life moment, and it’s a small moment, really.

I threw a big-ass party. It turned out a bit different from Perry’s [in That’s Ordinary World], but it was pretty nuts. It wasn’t me that threw it though, my wife threw me a surprise party. So [unlike Selma Blair’s character] she didn’t forget.

Minority is about being an individual. It’s like you have to sift through the darkness to find your place and be that individual you want to be your entire life.

If I look at my old lyrics, they seem to be full of rage, but empty. There was an emptiness in my life.

History will tell if we were really a good band or just a one day fly.

If Britney Spears would paint her ass green, I’m sure you would spot green asses all over L.A., as soon as the word was out.

It’s better to regret something you have done than to regret something you haven’t done.

Punk will never be dead to me. It’s my life. I can never just drop this lifestyle. It embodies me.

What kind of hang-ups does that person have?’ Obviously, it’s not just the catchy songs, it goes deeper than that.

I think that’s the big difference between this one [Ordinary World] and a lot of the other rock ‘n’ roll movies. They’re playing to tape, but Fred Armisen and I were actually in a rock ‘n’ roll bad together.

I got body lice in Germany! I’d tell you they were crabs, but I wasn’t getting laid.

The essence of warriorship, or the essence of human bravery, is refusing to give up on anyone or anything.

It’s also stamina in your direction, stamina in your interests. If you are working on different things but all of them very hard, you’re not really going to get anywhere. You’ll never become an expert.

To bear failure with courage is the best proof of character that anyone can give.

The third petition of the Lord’s Prayer is repeated daily by millions who have not the slightest intention of letting anyone’s will be done but their own.

If you can’t be yourself, what’s the point of being anyone else?

If you imagine the world listening, you’ll never write a line. That’s why privacy is so important. You should write first drafts as if they will never be shown to anyone.

[John D. Rockefeller] didn’t care about anyone he did anything just to be rich and be the only company standing without any competition. He destroyed anyone else.

Graham Greene at 82 years old was still writing, and I don’t think anyone can deny the force, the expertise, and the unique quality of his writing, if you take his complete oeuvre.