I never was strutting through the hallways like, "Yeah, I'm a singer/songwriter." That's never a cool thing to do - to be the brooding guy.

It's hard to deny talent. If you're good, you're good.

I was a good student. My mom is a teacher, and her side of the family is all teachers. She put a big emphasis on getting good grades.

My family was all musicians. We jam all the time.

Kids think books are cool, especially when they see that people they think books are cool are reading.

My world on the road always ends up feeling really small which is ironic because that's when I'm seeing the most places and meeting the most people!

Education is one of the most important tools that you can give somebody.

It's like a dream sometimes, a song just pops into your head and you can't tell if it's something you heard or it's new and you got to write it down.

I've been really lucky to have a lot of cool people and to be around a lot of cool celebrities that I've got to learn from.

Getting on stage, for me, was a huge thing when I first started. And back in high school, everyone was in rock bands and I was a singer/songwriter. It just seems kind of lame.

I can't figure out why fans keep coming, maybe it's because they dig the songs.

The past and future are what’s complicated. It’s the present that’s simple.

One who fears failure limits his activities.

Dealing in generalities is the death of prayer.

Pop music, disco music, and heavy metal music is about shutting out the tensions of life, putting it away.

The responsibility for change...lies within us. We must begin with ourselves, teaching ourselves not to close our minds prematurely to the novel, the surprising, the seemingly radical.

Mickey Mouse... is always there-he's part of my life. That really is something not everyone can call their claim to fame.

Nothing is rarer than the use of a word in its exact meaning.

Understate and over-prove.

As a breath on glass, - As witch-fires that burn, The gods and monsters pass, Are dust, and return. (“The Face of the Skies”)

Using the device of an imaginary world allows me in some strange way to go to the central issues - it's one of many ways to express feelings about real people, about real human relationships.