My father was always talking about God, and I idolized my father, so I'd spend hours trying to have mental telepathy with God.

I never really wanted to be a singer - not with any longevity. But I always wanted to be a writer.

Nothing is a hobby - each discipline is its own world with its own high standards. Of course, every artist has 'minor works' that they do, but I don't think I have any 'minor disciplines.'

I got over the loss of his desk and chair, but never the desire to produce a string of words more precious than the emeralds of Cortés.

I'm not a critic. I'm not a journalist. I'm not a philosopher. Arguing that punk has run its course is like saying painting ran its course after the Renaissance. Punk is an idea. It's freedom. And it'll be around 200 years from now for the people who want it.

I learned a lot from Arthur Rimbaud. People talk about how he wanted to be a seer and do that through the derangement of the senses. What they forget was that he also advocated, sternly and austerely, that one must be able to go through all that - and then articulate it.

We go through life. We shed our skins. We become ourselves.