One thing that really appeals to me is this idea of music being a living thing that has an evolution that, in a way, enables the artist to sell a process rather than a piece of product.

Critics are the men who have failed in literature and art.

The man who writes about himself and his own time is the only man who writes about all people and all time.

A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.

I passionately hate the idea of being with it, I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time.

Art is permitted to survive only if it renounces the right to be different, and integrates itself into the omnipotent realm of the profane.

If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it.

Artistic temperament is a disease that afflicts amateurs.

I think another thing is that we don't really want exclusivity. We accept that it is in the artist's interest to be on sale in every place where they sell music.

I have a genuine love affair with my audience. When I`m on stage they`re not privileged to see me. It`s a privilege for me to see them.

One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.

The absence of limitations is the enemy of art.

The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

Play it fuckin' loud!

We're not trying to change the world; just music.

Nature scarcely ever gives us the very best; for that we must have recourse to art.

We all know that art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.

The only escape from the miseries of life are music and cats...

People ask me how I make music. I tell them I just step into it. It's like stepping into a river and joining the flow. Every moment in the river has its song.

When you were young, and your heart, was an open book. You used to say, live and let live.