Guitar gigs were everywhere in the '50s, and I started diddling around so I could keep working. Playing honky-tonk, simple stuff. I took a few gigs with an organ band that put me out front.

I have been doing music all my life so everyday when I get up I expect music will be part of it.

The melody is the most important thing that must stay in the minds of the people who listen to you. No matter how many notes you play, you can't let them forget what the song is.

As my career has progressed, I've had the pleasure of playing with the baddest jazz cats on the planet. But that doesn't change my desire to entertain folks. That's really who I am.

I spent a lot of time teaching myself theory and harmony so I could be free to express myself on the instrument.

Never give up on a good thing, never give up, never give up!

The greatest teacher is just going out and playing.

Love songs are one of the great essences of life, the only thing thats lasting.

The less one remembers about the day before, the more the new day will be unfettered by triviality.

The greatest guitar player in the world today for me is Paco de Lucia, who is actually Spanish.

Lenny Breau dazzled me with his extraordinary guitar playing... I wish the world had the opportunity to experience his artistry.

My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.

Fire burns through thought.

Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men.

They're a typical Hollywood audience. All the kids are on drugs and all the adults are on roller skates.

Profiles aren't journalism.

Obviously a child can never conceive solitude if his parents aren't living it somewhere themselves. I don't mean that to be alone you have to get down on your knees for an hour in a yoga posture.

He reproduced himself with so much humble objectivity, with the unquestioning, matter of fact interest of a dog who sees himself in a mirror and thinks: there's another dog.

American journalists and politicians made a perfect spectacle of themselves in discussing the Abu Ghraib prison controversy.

As a woman, you have to choose between your fanny or your face. I chose my face.