This life is a gift, and to reject that gift or abuse that gift is not human and not worthy of us.

As far as what I do love, I love birds; I love lavender.

Democracy is not a spectator sport, it's a participatory event. If we don't participate in it, it ceases to be a democracy.

A lot of people on Capitol Hill don't want to talk to me.

I'm interested to see what happens with Fox News and phone hacking. I really can't believe it just happens in Great Britain. Because really, who cares about just hacking phones over there?

There's a gullible side to the American people. They can be easily misled. Religion is the best device used to mislead them.

I'm a millionaire, I'm a multi-millionaire, I'm filthy rich. You know why I'm a multi-millionaire? 'Cause multi-millions like what I do.

The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not 'insurgents' or 'terrorists' or 'The Enemy.' They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow - and they will win.

This book, 'Stupid White Men,' has sold now over four million copies worldwide. Probably about half of that may be in the U.S. and Canada, and the rest, overseas.

Any time you got the Pope and the Dixie Chicks against you, your time is up.

Back in the '80s and '90s, when GM was consistently posting giant profits, they were simultaneously firing tens of thousands of workers in my hometown of Flint and across Michigan.

He who hears the rippling of rivers in these degenerate days will not utterly despair.

I am in love with what I am doing, because the answer to this problem is right here in my mind, and soon - very soon - it will burst into consciousness.

Some people study a text very deeply. The people are my text. I study their words and what their words sound like, over and over again.

Terrorism, too, must be excised wherever it exists, which will take years, and which can't happen without the total commitment and the everyday involvement of the American people.

Even five minutes spent in silence will nurture and revive your soul and spirit.

If I wasn't a musician, I would be a serial killer.

I do think any modern storyteller is influenced by the stories we all grow up with and become familiar with, our shared cultural narratives.

So South Korean ability is very much limited to handle North Korean, you know, difficulties. So we don't want to see an immediate collapse of the North Korea regime.

How but in custom and in ceremony are innocence and beauty born?