I look at you and I write down what I hear.

Try a thing you haven't done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not.

I've never known a musician who regretted being one. Whatever deceptions life may have in store for you, music itself is not going to let you down.

I don't care what other critics say, I only hope to be played.

I let her alone and when she got that finished she left me alone. We trusted each other.

In Paris, you learn wit, in London you learn to crush your social rivals, and in Florence you learn poise.

I don't have to worry No matter what they do to it, it works.

I look at you and I write down what I hear.

I don't go around regretting things that don't happen.

Let your mind alone, and see what happens.

I said to my friends that if I was going to starve, I might as well starve where the food is good.

Reviewing music or reviewing anything is a writing job. It's nice if you are experienced in the field you are writing about, but writing is what you are doing.

I never learned to verbalize an abstract musical concept. No thank you. The whole point of being a serious musician is to avoid verbalization whenever you can.

Musicians own music because music owns them.

You explain how it went, and as far as you can figure out how it got that way.

Every composers music reflects in its subject matter and in its style the source of the money the composer is living on while writing the music.

I've never known a musician who regretted being one. Music itself is not going to let you down.

Vice stirs up war, virtue fights.

I have a great career, and I have wonderful fans who really are supportive and loyal - because I'm not hiding anything from them.

Crying wolf is a real danger.

The first is that instead of writing a sequel, which is what most people do, this is in fact a prequel. Although we didn't know that when we began the process.

I love to laugh and dance. That's kind of my nature, though I end up always playing these angry, depressing characters.

I'm not a barbarian.

We all have our convictions formed by different things, and mine are informed by my faith, they're informed by the Word of God, and I found that to be an anchor for me, a compass and a guide for me. When people start bullying one another and calling each other names for those different convictions, then I think you get into problems.

The United States is the only country with a known birthday.

My mother, Maxine, was married at 16 to my father Raymond, and in 56 years together, he was the only man she ever had.

People are architects of their own fortune.

I like the whole package to be good, It's a rarity that that happens, so I end up not working a lot.

Unless a man enters upon the vocation intended for him by nature, and best suited to his peculiar genius, he cannot succeed.

I think most polling shows that most Americans agree that when it comes to employment that, you know, people should be really judged by, you know, their competency and not, you know, who it is they choose to love or who they're in a relationship with.

Patience is a virtue

I've been a professional writer for 20 years, and there are contours in that time, crescents and troughs.

For whatever reason, various outlets and individuals are committed to making the world think that young girls don't talk or care about feminism anymore, that it's totally over. But it's not.

There is such a thing as bad publicity.

Every time I come to Europe, I'm just as excited as I was my very first time, which was many, many years ago. I love that part of the world, and I especially love the fans.

I guess my job has always been to build the music, direct the videos, to do all the things that usually fall behind the scenes.

It's so important to engage your kids to create rituals and moments that they will always remember.

What I really dream of is that somebody would blow everything I've done out of the water in a beautiful way, which would clear the way for something better to come along.

You can count on Errol Flynn, he'll always let you down.

The less you think counterfactually, the less you experience stress. Stress, in this light, isn't a bad thing. It's simply a warning system telling you that your mind has lost touch with what's real.

My accent is... sort of an Edinburgh sort of soft southwest Scottish accent. It could almost be English.