In the '70s, you had to come up with an album every year whether you were ready or not.

When punk rock came along, the one thing you were not supposed to be was musical.

The number of contemporary artists who appeal to me is infinitesimal.

In the '70s, you had to come up with an album every year whether you were ready or not.

If a hit came along, I wouldn't be unhappy about that. But I'm a bit too old for that now-doing videos and all those types of TV shows. I've kind of done all that, in the '70s.

If anyone comes along, I'm more than happy to welcome them, but I'm not interested in world domination.

I like being a big fish in a small pond. I'm not interested in a huge audience because it brings headaches.

Be a military flier or be in a band; those were the two hippest things I could imagine.

As long as my body holds out, I'll be grooving when I'm 70, and not some sort of horrible spectacle.

All those years we'd spent learning these chops, and all those gigs in Germany where you'd play all night, and along comes punk. It has nothing to do with that. A lot of people went out of business.

I suppose I was waiting until I was old enough to have some sort of experience to sing about. When you're young, it's hard to sing the blues. Nobody believes you.

These days, rock 'n' roll is much more about rock than about roll. I don't do rock. But I'm interested in that roll part, because that's the funny little bit that makes it hip.

Elvis Costello had a brand new bag. He was a musician, but he knew all about the attitude part of it.

They tell me I produced songs. I just stood in the back, wore a good suit and said, Yeah, that's happening.

The world is full of musicians who can play great, and you wouldn't cross the road to see them. It's people who have this indefinable attitude that are the good ones.

I'm playing to the sort of people who like the same records.

You've got to really know your song, inside and out.

I work very hard on getting the songs as direct and examined as I can before I go in the studio.

Going to Nashville to meet the in-laws was the first time when I'd been in America and not been seen as some sort of eccentric character with a cute accent.

When somebody like Elvis Costello comes along, anybody can make a good record with him.

Apocalypse does not point to a fiery Armageddon, but to our ignorance and complacency coming to an end.

General principles... are to the facts as the root and sap of a tree are to its leaves.

Historically, I come from Jewish history. I had the classic upbringing in the Yeshiva, learning, learning, and more learning.

Upon arriving, meeting their teachers and signing up for classes, these students began to realize that their attendance at Delaware State University was not a goal achieved, but rather a dream being sewn - a first step, if you will.

While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.

Kindness eases everything almost as much as money does.

My tax dollar, which goes to New York State Council on the Arts, is by and large only spent to fund people from the state of New York! And you want to be the cultural capital of the world?

I've never met a Mormon I didn't like. They're really nice people. They're so Disney. They're so Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Beasts kill for hunger men for pay.

Some people care about their work lasting forever - I have little interest in it.

The burden of proof is now on the Palestinians... They must fight terrorism and dismantle its infrastructures in order to make possible progress on the roadmap.

Dont confuse being stimulating with being blunt.

Turkey has never been colonized, so it remained as an independent nation after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

My mom thought I might be good for voiceover. She thought I had a cute voice, so maybe I could do a cartoon or something. And while we were looking into that, we also thought I should get into theater acting, so I tried it and the first audition I went on, I booked it. And it kind of just snowballed from there.

That's the worst way to miss somebody. When they're right beside you and you miss them anyway.

One thing we cannot put a number on is the number of casualties because people were never connected to their purpose in life.

The year after I graduated college I had a job in a library. When people underlined passages in the library books, or made notes in the margins, the books were sent to me. I erased the lines and the notes. Yes, that was my job.

If there's one country that can be trusted to understand the complexity of history, it's Israel.

Peace is a conscious choice.

If you are buying a larger turkey than usual, make sure it will fit in the oven.

My family are all storytellers, and I think I inherited a lot more of that gene than other people in my family. I guess I was fun to have around.

Learning ballet is wonderful for children even if they never become dancers. It is wonderful because it teaches discipline grace and manners.

There is enough heartache and sorrow in this life without our adding to it through our own stubbornness bitterness and resentment.

I have no tax breaks or corporate interests to be supported by Barack Obama.