San Antonio is like a military town. It's like literally - when I was growing up there, there were five Air Force bases, plus Fort Sam Houston. I was always sort of near the military.

Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world, and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that.

America's criminal justice system isn't known for rehabilitation. I'm not sure that, as a society, we are even interested in that concept anymore.

I don't believe that songwriting has to be profound, but I truly believe that it's a crime for you to go outta your way for it not to be.

I have a low tolerance for mediocrity in music and life. I'm into pain and joy and the in-between doesn't interest me.

Actually, in its purest form, Islam is incredibly tolerant. That makes what's going on in the world really bizarre.

All we do as songwriters is rewrite the songs that have impressed us till we find our own voice. It's part of learning the craft.

You see things differently at 40 than you do at 31. Especially if you got to 40 the way I did.

Every day on Earth is another chance to get it right.

I don't really think in terms of obstacles. My biggest obstacle is always myself.

To me, religion is an agreement between a group of people about what God is. Spirituality is a one-on-one relationship.

If you want to be successful. You must pay the price in advance.

There is no "one" way to be a perfect leader, but there are a million ways to be a good one.

But the disappearance of the effort to let go is precisely the disappearance of the separate thinker, of the ego trying to watch the mind without interfering.

She stood at the window, her arms spread wide, holding on to each side of the frame, it was as if she held a piece of the city.

Steel is not forged in a comfortable place.

New York is like a disco, but without the music

Gossip is more popular than literature.

If people want new music then they are going to have to figure out a way to be patrons of the arts. And they will.

In open positions the safety of the King should be the first consideration.

Sometimes you have to forget what's gone, appreciate what still remains, and look forward to what's coming next.