I wanted an electric train for Christmas but I got the saxophone instead.

It's a matter of choosing what is most important to you and putting that first. Once you have recognized your true purpose in life, this becomes much easier.

There'll be no oiling up with this band. The oil has been there for years and it only gets better.

I do read music, but I prefer playing from the heart.

I take my job as a rock and roll sax player very seriously. To do it the way that I must do it, I must be in good condition. The better shape you're in, the harder you can rock.

In the mental calmness of a spiritual life, I have found that the answers to the whys in our lives are able to come to you. In my music I find the same thing.

Being involved in the well-being and advancement of one's own community is a most natural thing to do.

I like health-conscious cooking, but growing up in the South, I do love southern cooking; southern France, southern Italy, southern Spain. I love southern cooking.

As a horn player, the greatest compliment one can get is when a person comes to you and says, 'I heard this saxophone on the radio the other day and I knew it was you. I don't know the song, but I know it was you on sax.'

The calm mind allows one to connect with the inner self, the Soul, the very source of our being. That's where the music lives. That's where my music comes from.

Now that I am much older, I have had a number of sax players tell me I was responsible for them playing sax. Some of them I have admired over the years.

I look forward to working out every day.

I wanted an electric train for Christmas but I got the saxophone instead.

The word spiritual, not the word religious, is the key.

All this pain is going to come back and make me stronger.

As long as my mouth, hands, and brain still work, I'll be out there doing it. I'm going to keep going 'til I'm not there anymore. This is what's keeping me alive and feeling young and inspired.

Before the Berlin Wall came down, we played behind the Iron Curtain and sang, 'Born in the U.S.A.,' and I thought, 'We're all going to die. The man is going to get us all killed.' But then you saw all these kids with the American flag and German flags together and singing the song, and it was, wow, like 'We Shall Overcome.'

Cooking is an art form, a creative thing.

Death is not just the end, it's the beginning.

Everybody calls me Big Man.

God will give you no more than you can handle.

Going through all of this physical stuff, it's been a tough job. But I've loved every second of my life.

How many ways can you cut a steak? How many ways can a chord go? I've been in this business so long, I know how to cut it.

I always had this vision of what I wanted to do in life.

I couldn't really trust anyone. Not completely.

I didn't think I'd ever be a Michael Jackson fan. But... watching him move, watching him dance, is so encouraging for me. Because, in my mind, I can do all that stuff.

I don't care about the gold records and all of that stuff. I care about what we do onstage, and the joy that we bring to people.

I found out how great the E Street Band is. The reality of a band that you can't scoop aside, can't put in a corner.

I got into the soul music, but I wanted to rock. I was a rocker.

I grew up with a very religious background.

I have faith in the judicial system.

I have no agenda - just to be loved.

I hung out in the Baltimore area a lot. My biggest memory was playing football against Morgan. That was, like, 'Forget about it,' that was a really big thing. They used to kick our butts all the time.

I know that one day I'm going to die. I want to accomplish as much as I can before I do.

I never thought I'd be a, quote, 'rock & roll star.'

I visualize what I do before I do it. Visualizing makes me better.

I was a born rock n' roll sax player.

I'd rather somebody punch me in the face than drop my sax.

I'll never be rude to another news person. It's a tough job, a thankless job. You really have to get out there and grovel to get your story.

I'm a Gaga-ite.

I'm a mellow fellow. Nothing much bothers me.

I'm always in the market for my acting.

I'm blessed with nice legs, but I see lots of guys with big upper bodies and pencil legs.

I'm like the Bionic Man.

I've been pretty blessed. Sometimes it comes in disguise.

I've been thinking about a cookbook. I've been making notes and promising myself I'll do it some day. I have an idea for a cookbook and music together.

It takes a village to run the Big Man - a village of doctors.

It used to take a day to get over the partying. But I don't party anymore. I don't miss it, either.

It's a crazy world, so I meditate for 20 minutes. I also meditate for 20 minutes before a concert.