I feel most spiritual when I'm out in the woods. I feel part of nature. Or looking up at the stars. [I used to say] I was an atheist. Now I say, it's all according to your definition of God. According to my definition of God, I'm not an atheist. Because I think God is everything. Whenever I open my eyes I'm looking at God.

There's a story behind every old ballad or work song or nonsense song that I ever knew. Sometimes it's a fascinating story. A story of people struggling for freedom, struggling to get along in this old world.

A song is like a picture of a bird in flight; the bird was moving before the picture was taken, and no doubt continued after.

You'd be surprised how many stupid mistakes I've made. I make stupid mistakes all the time, and some of them have been very big stupid mistakes.

Technology will save us if it doesn't wipe us out first.

I still call myself a communist, because communism is no more what Russia made of it than Christianity is what the churches make of it.

I fought for peace in the fifties.