At the point where I'm trying to force something and it's not happening, and I'm getting frustrated with, say, writing a poem, I can go and pick up the brushes and start painting. At the point where the painting seems to not be going anywhere, I go and pick up the guitar.

You win the lasting laurels with your laughter.

When I felt that fame - people were nosing me out - well, I moved on. I used traveling names; wigs if necessary.

I know my generation - a lot of them, they're getting old now, and they want to think back fondly, they want to kid themselves. A lot of them think, 'Yeah, we were the best.' That's the kiss of death. That's non-growth. And also that's very bad for the world.

People were very protective of me. Overly so. I was in the industry for a long time before I had any idea of what drugs people were doing.

There are things to confess that enrich the world, and things that need not be said.

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.