We managed to put together a compilation that had some creativity to it. In the meantime I was listening to the free radio stations and I noticed that during their war coverage they were playing these songs born out of the Vietnam War that were all critical of the soldiers.

I hate show business.

Nobody understood The Reoccurring Dream, but after September 11, when we were coerced to do a national duty and go out and shop, surely people could begin to see what I was getting at.

I can't remember anything I ever wrote.

With a painting, you don't have to go back and paint it again.

There was this mountain village in Russia where my music was getting in on some German radio station. I remember this because music used to get up to Saskatchewan from Texas. Late at night after the local station closed down.

Not to dismiss Gershwin, but Gershwin is the chip; Ellington was the block.

Paul Simon started piling up a lot of words, more than the bar could handle, and I stopped!

Buddy Holly and the early rock 'n' roll was no lighter than the way I play. It's very minimal.

I had made all these rules for myself: I'm not writing social commentary, I'm not writing love songs.

The coming of the kids hasn't come out in my art yet.

I used to be monastic, almost. Now I'm like a Tibetan that has discovered hamburgers and television. I'm catching up on Americana.

I don't like to make fluffy little songs, but now I want to make some light songs.

I'm not a pitiable creature. It's just that I suffer very eloquently.

I find a lot of poetry to be narcissistic.

I'm a night owl.

I don't like being too looked up at or too looked down on. I prefer meeting in the middle to being worshiped or spat out.

My first four albums covered the usual youth problems - looking for love in all the wrong places - while the next five are basically about being in your 30s.

The considerations of a corporation, especially now, have nothing to do with art or music.

I lost my daughter at 21. I had to give her up because I was broke, no place to take her, no money to take her. That was very traumatic.

My goal as a writer is more to comfort than to disturb.

If I'm censoring for anyone, it's for my parents. They are very old-fashioned and moral people. They still don't understand me that well.

I do have this reputation for being a serious person.

I love to dance.

People used to say nobody can sing my songs but me - they're too personal.

For the first time in my career, I'm working in a fine-arts arena, so I'm finally getting some intelligent reviews.

When I came to California, it was the mecca of the world. Every young person on the planet wanted to be here.

Eventually, with success, I started to feel more and more isolated - like I didn't have a community of artists.

I'm a Buddhist.

When I began experimenting, people weren't ready for it. Once it's in its second and third generational stages, people can accept it.

I always thought the women of song don't get along, and I don't know why that is.

I get the same charge from juxtaposition of colors as I do from juxtaposition of chords.

It's never too late to be great.

I have high expectations for myself - as an athlete, as a man, as an individual - and wrestling has helped me build a lot of character knowing that I have to remain humble but also fight complacency.

Discipline, focus, endurance is what it takes to be the greatest at this sport.

I'm not afraid to tell people what I hope to accomplish and what I believe I'm capable of. I'm ready to take the backlash if I don't accomplish my dreams.

I listen to a lot of TED talks and motivational speakers.

If you look at my iPod, I've got so much different music. I think that it kind of describes me as a person, just being a chameleon to whatever particular environment that I'm in.

I think every athlete is afraid for their career to be over.

I think every young man's goal is to be a professional athlete, whether it's the NBA, MLB, or the NFL.

We have a lot of wrestling fans out there just looking for a star to cheer for.

The difference between the greats and the legends is their ability to focus for longer periods of time.

I wanted to be amongst the greats. I wanted to be a Simone Biles, a Michael Phelps, an Ashton Eaton. I wanted to be those guys.

A lot of kids can't identify with the things I've done and where I'm from and who I am as an individual. That's why I've tried to be a person and live my life in a way that can be identified by all cultures.

I've had matches that were close.

I think I'm a crossover athlete to get the sport into the mainstream media.

Donald Trump and I have very different views on Iranians. I am confident that if he ever visited the country, he'd learn a lot about the people and come back to the States with a newfound appreciation for the Persians.

If you come from Jersey, you're tough. You've been through the grind.

There's no excuse for losing for me.

Family is most important to me.