“To me, that’s the key thing, the pursuit of happiness. That’s the basic, ultimate freedom.”

What a long strange trip it’s been.

Hunter can write a melody and stuff like that, but his forte is lyrics. He can write a serviceable melody to hang his lyrics on, and sometimes he comes up with something really nice.

You need music, I don’t know why. It’s probably one of those Joe Campbell questions, why we need ritual.

I think that the important changes have already happened, changes in consciousness. It’s mostly a matter of everything else catching up to that.

Partly. Part Of The Way You Can Tell You’re Alive Is By How Much Pain You’re Experiencing, Or How Little.

The nature of what we’re doing is something, which is by its very nature, is non-formulaic.

American society has gone completely into denial.

Done time in the lock-up, done time on the streets. Done time on the upswing, and time in defeat.

I think The Grateful Dead kind of represents the spirit of being able to go out and have an adventure in America at large.

Run faster, jump higher, reach farther, and you’ll always win! live life expecting the worst, hoping for the best, and living for the future!

We play at the religious services of the new age. Everybody gets high, and that’s what it’s all about really.

People may need something to celebrate. They need a context in which to celebrate things. They need something that fills the void that’s left by the bankruptcy of religion and so forth.

I think the Muslim religious is a little too tight. It doesn’t fit humans. Humans can’t possibly fit into it, so there are a lot of really unhappy people, terribly repressed.

I mean, just because you’re a musician doesn’t mean all your ideas are about music.

We were very fortunate to have a a little time in history when LSD was still legal and were able to experiment with drugs just like we were doing with music.

What we’re thinking about is a peaceful planet. We’re not thinking about anything else.

There were basically three themes. One was the sun theme which is the guitar when he’d get sun on his leg and it comes again in the end. And there’s of course the lullaby which Dido sang, “If I Rise.” And then there’s this driving guitar which is the motivation theme.

Filling a need is not merely good business; it’s a basic attitude towards life. If you see a need, do whatever you can to meet that need.

Childhood is not a state which only applies to the first phase of our lives in the biological sense. Rather it is a basic condition which is always appropriate to a life that is lived aright.

We have to get back down to basics. We have to start organizing at the neighborhood level to get people educated to vote.

Ultimately, health care fails the most basic test. It’s not organized around the needs of the patient.

A basic law: the more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for.

Do not doubt your own basic goodness. In spite of all confusion and fear, you are born with a heart that knows what is just, loving, and beautiful.

I don’t panic. The same thing applies to me as to everybody else, so I’m given to euphoria and despair. And I would say that I basically have survived by recognizing my mistakes.