"Townes van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that."

"I think the criticism that I take to heart is from other writers that I respect."

"If there is such a thing as a workaholic, I'm it, and that's what passes for leisure."

"Me, I'm spiritually retarded, I need to be knee deep in water with a fly rod in my hands, that's about as close to God as I get."

"Sonnets are guys writing in English, imitating an Italian song form. It was a form definitely sung as often as it was recited."

"I don't really think in terms of obstacles. My biggest obstacle is always myself."

"Actually, in its purest form, Islam is incredibly tolerant. That makes what's going on in the world really bizarre."