Sometimes just getting out of the house and doing something you haven't done in a long time (or never done!) can open up the doors to musical inspiration.

Composers, like authors, have a lot in common. Our main goal is to connect with the listener emotionally.

Hooks need to be predictable and not predictable at the same time.

Location is a very important aspect to songwriting.

People don't have fun making music all the time.

I have come up with very creative ideas that really didn't work with the song I was currently composing.

The prime goal of an author is the same as a musician, which is to emotionally connect with the reader in some way or another.

Minds are like flowers. If you let it sit there without soaking anything up, it will dry up.

If our main goal is to connect emotionally, we should want to have as many tools as we possibly can to achieve that goal. The more abilities that we have, the more choices we can make musically.

If you are making music for other people, you will have to be aware of how people relate to it.

Writing a song is much like being an author. Yes, we all have tools to write (everyone has a brain I hope!), but that doesn't all of a sudden make us best selling authors.

Music is about textures as well as melody.

The most important thing is that you like the music.

Sometimes just getting out of the house and doing something you haven't done in a long time (or never done!) can open up the doors to musical inspiration.

The more I do in my life, the more I can write music about new experiences.

Sometime I write a song off a central idea, instead of emotion.

Sometimes I will click on a random sequence of notes- not to actually use it in a song, but to see if I can find maybe a simple pattern that I can build off of.

Mistakes can be good things, because it is an unexpected thing.

Music is an art form too. Sometimes other forms of art can be inspiring to the musician.

Food is your body's fuel. Without fuel, your body wants to shut down.

Music is an art form. It is a way to wordlessly communicate.

Childhood is a promise that is never kept.

The human voice sounds thicker with a chorus and reverb than a dry signal.

Times have changed since George Herbert... but the principle and spirit in which he ministered as a priest remains an inspiration and model for all priests.

Don't make music for some vast, unseen audience or market or ratings share or even for something as tangible as money. Though it's crucial to make a living, that shouldn't be your inspiration. Do it for yourself.

Yes, and I can sit down on a white piece of paper and work because I don't believe too much into inspiration, only I'm waiting for inspiration, work and then inspiration may come. It's a little too easy to say that.

Nature is my manifestation of God. I go to nature every day for inspiration in the day's work. I follow in building the principles which nature has used in its domain.

If the script is telling the story well, that is your inspiration, and you do not need to go somewhere else.

You know, sometimes I get moments of inspiration when I'm writing something and then the task seems so daunting that it just kind of scares me away.

Better beware of notions like genius and inspiration; they are a sort of magic wand and should be used sparingly by anybody who wants to see things clearly.

The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration.

The prophets, who were very many, proclaim and declare the one God; for, being filled with the inspiration of the one God, they predicted things to come, with agreeing and harmonious voice.

One of the things I try to be very careful of is not taking a movie when I know I have no inspiration left.

The men who have furnished me with my greatest inspiration have not been men of wealth, but men of deeds.

Because I don't play guitar any more, African harmonies and rhythms have been an inspiration to me. I love the raw origin of the sound. It complements my voice and words naturally.

Inspiration doesn't really work like that - you're not looking out for it. Inspiration is something that tends to capture you rather than you capture it.

Any composer who is gloriously conscious that he is a composer must believe that he receives his inspiration from a source higher than himself.

I don't really care who gets their inspiration from where, it's the end results that count.

Inspiration in Science may have to do with ideas, but not in Art. In art it is in the senses that are instinctively responsive to the medium of expression.

When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best - that is inspiration.

Part of Michael's uniqueness, I think, comes from the fact that he worked with music. He had a tape which he gave me with many different compositions, really eclectic. These pieces of music were sources of inspiration.

I'd seen the current stage production and the 1975 production of Chicago. I liked them both very much, but I didn't use them necessarily as inspiration.

All characters come from people I know, but after the initial inspiration, I tend to modify the characters so they fit with the story.

Accordingly the Northern races of Europe found their inspiration in the Bible; and the enthusiasm for it has not yet quite faded away.

Risk is essential. There is not growth of inspiration in staying within what is safe and comfortable. Once you find out what you do best, why not try something else?

Where does a man get inspiration to write a song like that? Well, he gets it from the landlady once a month.

I believe we need to attract a new generation of the best and brightest to public service and I believe that government can be a source of inspiration, not degradation.

Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.

For me, songwriting is something I have to do ritually. I don't just wait for inspiration; I try to write a little bit every day.