If I knew where the good songs came from, I’d go there more often. It’s a mysterious condition. It’s much like the life of a Catholic nun. You’re married to a mystery.

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth One more thin gypsy thief... Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes I thought it was there for good so I never tried... And Jane came by with a lock of your hair She said that you gave it to her That night that you planned to go clear.

I’ll be marching through the morning, Marching through the night, Moving 'cross the borders Of My Secret Life.

To keep our hearts open is probably the most urgent responsibility you have as you get older.

Nothing can stop you from thinking. The human mind is designed to think continually.

Something I wrote quite a few years ago was, "The voices in my head, they don't care what I do, they just want to argue the matter through and through." It is a common mistake, to think you're going to go into some kind of spiritual practice and you're going to be relieved of the human burdens, from human crosses like thought, jealousy, despair - in fact, if anything, these feelings are amplified.

The last refuge of the insomniac is a sense of superiority to the sleeping world.