I was living on the wrong side of the tracks in Evanston, Illinois, in a home for boys. We had these Jackson 5 records. I really related to their voices - they were about my age, but they were doing it.

The sorrow grows bigger when the sorrow's denied.

Any conversations we hear about 'So who are Pearl Jam marketing to?' are despicable.

You kill yourself and you make a big old sacrifice and try to get your revenge. That all you're gonna end up with is a paragraph in a newspaper. In the end, it does nothing. Nothing changes. The world goes on and you're gone. The best revenge is to live on and prove yourself.

I think music is the greatest art form that exists, and I think people listen to music for different reasons, and it serves different purposes. Some of it is background music, and some of it is things that might affect a person's day, if not their life, or change an attitude. The best songs are the ones that make you feel something.

Music saved me; I mean, my upbringing was like a hurricane, and music was the tree I held onto.

Things like guitars and ukuleles, you should never part with it, because there will probably be good, healthy times spent, just playing and writing.