“All God requires from us is to enjoy life and love. That’s the whole point.”

The trick is, as I know it, is to care like hell and not give a damn at the same time.

A lot of talent is a gift, but a lot is also luck. I’m very aware of that. I was born in the right place at the right time. I am also blessed because I’ve never been a sex symbol. I’m spared the embarrassment of acting young.

One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor.

Anthony Heilbut has been a guide and a mentor to me. I know of no one who has the love and depth of knowledge of this extraordinary author.

Breakdowns come, and breakdowns go.

How can you live in the Northeast?

Take me. I’m an ordinary player in the key of C. And my will was broken by my pride and my vanity. Who’s gonna love you when you’re looks are gone? God will. Like he waters the flowers on your window sill.

I’ve got nothing to do today but smile.

The degree of customization possible through your Preferences screens is awesome.

I don’t think [Dylan and the Beatles] influenced me a lot. I think it was inevitable; they were so powerful that you couldn’t really escape the influence.

If you can get humor and seriousness at the same time, you’ve created a special little thing, and that’s what I’m looking for, because if you get pompous, you lose everything.

Far above the golden clouds, the darkness vibrates. The earth is blue. And everything about it is a love song. Everything about it.

By the time I was 12 or 13, I felt that I was special, because I could play the guitar and write songs.

Having a track record to live up to and the history of successes had become a hindrance. It becomes harder to break out of what people expect you to do.

Much of songwriting is simply a mystery.

I don’t consider myself to be a major talent, so the only solace I can take is to hope I’m growing.

We have to stretch out the audience. It can’t be this narrow – we have to stretch out the point of view.

At this point we find ourselves confronted by a very disquieting question: Do we really wish to act upon our knowledge?

We are not people who touch each other carelessly; every point of contact between us feels important, a rush of energy and relief.

Every existence above a certain rank has its singular points; the higher the rank the more of them. At these points, influences whose physical magnitude is too small to be taken account of by a finite being may produce results of the greatest importance.

I came into this music business at 26 years old. I was a fully developed man at that point. At that age, I didn’t have anything to prove.

If any such point out to us our follies, we at once claim those follies as the special evidence of our wisdom.

That which we have lived is nothing; that which we live is a point; that which we have to live is not yet a point, but may be a point which, together, shall be and shall have been.

I can score 20 points if I want to, but that’s not my desire.