I'm not Catholic but the Virgin Mary fascinates me because she's like a folk hero.

The good thing about working alone is I get a lot done and I can experiment more. The bad thing is I miss out on the gregarious, social way that most musicians work.

One simple word: ugh. Is something still considered a conspiracy if it's played out right under our noses?

My reason for becoming a vegetarian was simple: I loved (and love) animals

I'm envious of people who can sleep as long as they want. I have the circadian rhythm of a farmer.

The good thing about not being drop-dead gorgeous is that as time passes, I don't have much to worry about. I have friends who are actors and every day they look in the mirror with trepidation.

Could you look an animal in the eyes and say to it, 'My appetite is more important than your suffering'?

I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing.

Ignorance is the parent of fear.

Dogs have boundless enthusiasm but no sense of shame. I should have a dog as a life coach.

I like noise. It's always puzzled me why one of the goals of contemporary recording is to get rid of noise and to eliminate any element of a performance.

We can be redeemed only to the extent to which we see ourselves.

My heart is shattered, an all that's left are jagged shards.

I took one of my hands in the other, tried to imagine what it would feel like if it was another person's hand holding mine. There have been times where I felt that I might die of loneliness.

Imagine reality, reality will imagine you.

I'm filled with admiration, delight, and gratitude at discovering James Lasdun's poems in A Jump Start. He has wit, speed, intelligence, a keen eye, precision, and imagination of a high order.

What are clouds, but an excuse for the sky? What is life, but an escape from death?

You will go to the paper towns and never come back.

When I was twelve, the biggest name in Rock and Roll was Elvis Presley. I bought an EP, "King Creole". I hid it in the basement, but my mother found it.

Our judgements of good and evil ... presuppose God as the standard. If there's no God, there's neither good nor evil. There's just nature doing what it does

I don't worry about being a woman alone out there. My advice to people is to smile a lot, talk to strangers, accept all invitations and eat everything you're offered.