It was unlikely that anyone had ever heard a black person sing country music.

For most entertainers, there is a single experience, one defining moment, when confidence replaces the self-doubt that most of us wrestle with.

The tastes of country music fans are not limited to the narrow range defined by consultants and programmers and record company moguls.

It used to be that if you had a pretty good record, you could stop by a station in Little Rock or Atlanta and let the DJ listen to it. No way something like that can happen now.

The time I spent thinking about how I was better than somebody else or worrying about somebody else's attitude was time I could put to better use.

I finally came to terms with manic depression and lithium. I've taken lithium regularly for the past few years and have had no further bouts with manic depression.

Fans are what make a performer and I've always taken them seriously.

A fan will grab you and hug you and will not let go. When that happens, you wish it could be that way all over the world.

There only have been two people on this earth that I was nervous around: Chet Atkins and Mickey Mantle. It's because of the respect I have for them.

No one had ever told me that whites were supposed to sing one kind of music and blacks another - I sang what I liked in the only voice I had.

I learned to tune a guitar by ear. That method has served me pretty well.

An idea that's BOLD is worthless until SOLD!

Don't be sad that I'm autistic. Love me for who I am. All of me. Some things are difficult for me but I'm okay as I am.

Philosophers tend to radically underestimate the distance between abstract principles (such as "reduce suffering") and what it might actually mean for people to act on them.

I love those films where I feel the director's confidence - where he doesn't need to overdo it with the shots and the cuts.

I don't live that life anymore, it's as simple as that.

If I made an album just to sell you a story about how I'm the man, it really doesn't show any human side to me. It's good to talk about what's real and what's relevant.

In your heart there is innocence waiting to be free.

I feel there must be an enormous amount of really talented songwriters out there who can't sing.

A Hospital isn't any place to end up being sick.

Nothing can match the wonderment that comes from staring up into the star-filled canopy above and realizing that you are a part of that creation.