Instinct taught me 20 years ago to pace a song or a concert performance. That translates into pacing a story, pleasing a reading audience.

These old ballparks are like cathedrals in America. We don't have big old Gothic cathedrals like they do in Europe. But we got baseball parks.

I sell escapism.

I still consider it a summer job, though. So, I try to maintain that summer job as long as I can. But it's exciting to be able to have the opportunity to do things I always dreamed of as a kid.

Searching is half the fun: life is much more manageable when thought of as a scavenger hunt as opposed to a surprise party.

I can only say the first thing that pops into my mind is I remember, years ago, seeing kind of a has-been country singer working - when I first moved to Nashville - in a bar in a Holiday Inn.

I always said that I wouldn't use a teleprompter, and if I start to sing real flat, I'll hang it up.

Phish and Dave Matthews really know their audiences and really treat them well.

If I couldn't laugh I just would go insane, If we couldn't laugh we just would go insane, If we weren't all crazy we would go insane.

People who think too much before they act don't act too much.

I just want to live happily ever after, every now and then.

We are the people our parents warned us about.

Wrinkles will only go where the smiles have been.

Well, I'm still here. Didn't have to go to rehab, and I'm not broke.

Older and wiser voices can help you find the right path, if you are only willing to listen.

There's something missing in the music industry today... and it's music. Songs you hear don't last, it's just product fed to you by the industry.

If life gives you limes, make margaritas.

And I wound up in New Orleans for all those years and it was a great place, really a catalyst creatively.

You know, as a writer, I'm more of a listener than a writer, cuz if I hear something I will write it down.

My mother insisted that her children read.

I'm a big follower and reactor to weather.

Instinct taught me 20 years ago to pace a song or a concert performance. That translates into pacing a story, pleasing a reading audience.

The stores and the things like that, the business side of things came out at the point when, I'd say probably in the early '70s, it looked like the year of the singer-songwriter was over, 'cause music changed in our time and the spotlight was out.

If it doesn't work out there will never be any doubt that the pleasure was worth all the pain.

Is it ignorance or apathy? Hey, I don't know and I don't care.

Places I've lived since then had to have some kind of uniqueness and character about them. And logically Key West, and then Down Island. So, all of that stuff sort of had it's roots in New Orleans and went crazy.

Indecision may or may not be my problem.

I'm inspired by people who keep on rolling, no matter their age.

Humor has bailed me out of more tight situations than I can think of. If you go with your instincts and keep your humor, creativity follows. With luck, success comes, too.

And I try to give the best bang for the buck. I love performing more than anything else.

If we weren't all crazy, we'd just go insane.

Quitting doesn't enter my mind.

It's been wonderful for me, and I feel so privileged to have fans that are that loyal.

At 57, to have a No. 1 album, I wasn't expecting it.

Why dont we get drunk and screw?

I hate to mention age, but I come from an era when we weren't consumed by technology and television.

Moderation is the key so I work certain amount of time and then I take a certain amount of time off.

Elvis was the only man from Northeast Mississippi who could shake his hips and still be loved by rednecks, cops, and hippies.

To describe my scarce leisure time in today's terms, I always default to reading.

And you find as a writer there are certain spots on the planet where you write better than others, and I believe in that. And New Orleans is one of them.

It takes no more time to see the good side of life than it takes to see the bad.

If theres a heaven for me Im sure it has a beach attached to it.

Gluttony do not eat thy neighbors wifes popcorn.

Go fast enough to get there, but slow enough to see.

Therapy is extremely expensive. Popping bubble wrap is radically cheap.

It was too much Tequila, or not quite enough.

It's a fine line between Saturday night and Sunday morning.

I think that instinct, that storytelling instinct, rescued me most of my life.

Ideas pull the trigger, but instinct loads the gun.