One attraction of Latin is that you can immerse yourself in the poems of Horace and Catullus without fretting over how to say, "Have a nice day."

What lasts is what is written. We look to literature to find the essence of an age.

What is important-what lasts-in another language is not what is said but what is written. For the essence of an age, we look to its poetry and its prose, not its talk shows.

There is a negative proof of the value of Latin: No one seems to boast of not knowing it.

Jane! will you hear reason?' (he stooped and approached his lips to my ear) 'because, if you won't, I'll try violence.

My problem is that I don't paint ambitiously. It's all catch and release - just tiny fish that aren't really worth the trouble to clean and cook.

I really like the thing I did with Martina McBride. I had that song sitting around for a long time.

A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.

I tend to look at potential investments from the standpoint of whether it is a valuable contribution to society.

It's a long ride home with nothing but me for company. I bore myself sometimes. Not often. Just now and again.

On today's athletes: I wish I could turn back the clock a little bit so I'd have a chance to cut it up with those guys.

James McMurtry is a true Americana poet - actually he is a poet regardless of genre

I value my Catholic background very much. It taught me not to be afraid of rigorous thought, for one thing.