You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone.

My mother always told me that any talent is a gift of God and I always believed it. If I quit, I would just live in front of the television and get fat and die pretty soon.

I'm thankful for the sea breeze that feels so good right now, and the scent of jasmine when the sun starts going down.

My daddy left home when I was three and he didn't leave much to Ma and me, just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.

A rose looks grey at midnight, but the flame is just asleep. And steel is strong because it knows the hammer and white heat.

I did [picking cotton] from - until I was 18 years old, that is. Then I picked the guitar, and I've been picking it since.

We'll all be equal under the grass, and God's got a heaven for country trash.