I was born in a small clapboard house on an island, but I also have certain privileges that I didn't have when I was on the island. So that dichotomy again is actually really crucial.

I think there's an interesting line drawn towards extreme environments, and the way I define extreme is through a sense of otherness. Or foreignness.

The way that I Am is designed, it becomes a kind of archipelago, which the Bahamas are.

Poetry makes sense of the parts of human experience that are confusing and not decodable in any other way. It makes accessible the inaccessible.

Sometimes I'm inspired by the material and sometimes there's an idea that speaks to a material.

There's always a moment that tilts the scales of the project, and it's always different in every project.

I think it's every artist's nature to want to escape. It's also human nature in a way, depending on your personality, to want to get away from it all.

The idea of being in the desert is fundamental, but it's totally relative, and it's about that membrane: the way that one defines self versus the environment.

I think being an artist and taking on those challenges is just how it is for me. Because I was always a foreigner, I was always the outsider.

I think if art has one underlying value, it's that.

Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why.

Dream all you can, live all you say, work all you must.

I doubt you can understand the magnitude of the stupidity in your statement

The hardest victory is the victory over self.

How much do I owe you?

Civilization owes to the Islamic world some of its most important tools and achievements...the Muslim genius has added much to the culture of all peoples.

I'm just not interested in daytime television, which is something you should remember the next time somebody offers you a daytime talk show.

I can't think of anybody we toured with that had more impact on us than Queen.

I don't know if I could ever really be cast in a heartthrob role apart from 'Twilight,' which I didn't really know was a heartthrob role. I really don't feel I am one.

And, honestly, if somebody wants to criticize me for not being a trainwreck, that's fine with me!