People get frightened that success is going to take them out of life. They're no longer going to be on the corner of Bedlam and Squalor; life will only be something you can get through the mail.
Tom WaitsAnton brings the camera. I'll bring a tuba, wear black, not shave, and take us to a burned-down Chinese restaurant. (On being photographed by his longtime photo collaborator Anton Corbijn)
Tom WaitsAll medical procedures require two hands, so in a sense it's like when you play an instrument. That's what they call things that they use in their work: They call them instruments. A lot of people start out majoring in medicine and drop it and change their major to music.
Tom WaitsIโve always been a word guy, I like weird words and I like American slang and all that and words that are no longer being usedโฆ I like to drag them out of the box and wave them aroundโฆ this is an interesting one, itโs amazing how in addition to punctuation just a little pause in the wrong place can just completely transform the meaning of something.
Tom Waits