My father rebelled ferociously against his conservative upbringing where his father physically abused him.

Once I opened my mind to the concept of a greater power, I never struggled with it. Everywhere I went, I felt and saw the existence of a creative intelligence in this universe, of a loving power larger than myself in nature, in people, everywhere.

...whatever I ended up doing with my life,I wanted to people feel the way this music was making me feel.

...for the first time in my life, a voice went off in my head:'You have no power over what happens in your life. Drugs dictate exactly what you're going to do. You've taken your hands off the steering wheel, and you're going wherever the drug world takes you.' That had never changed. The feeling would well up inside of me, and no matter how much I loved my girl or my band or my friends or my family, when that siren song 'Go get high now' started playing in my head, I was off.

I stopped hating and started just being. My whole life, I had been the most defensive person you'd meet, unable to tolerate any criticism. But now I started listening and being.

What doesn't kill you only makes your book longer.

My days are whatever I want them to be. I don't have to go worry about chasing some chemical to make me feel OK for a minute, and then make me feel worse.