The greatest invention in the world is the mind of a child.

[Writing] is edit, edit, edit. It's almost like getting a boat ready to go to sea. You've still got a countless number of things left to fix, but you've just got to go, "O.K., everybody get on the boat. We're going, ready or not."

In writing songs I've learned as much from Cézanne as I have from Woody Guthrie.

I started writing "Peace Trail" here in Colorado, then I went back to California. I had a few other tunes going around in my head, so I had a couple of them finished after a few days and then I wanted to go into the studio.

It is easier to produce ten volumes of philosophical writings than to put one principle into practice.

Writing for other artists helped me figure out that magic you have to capture to make everyone connect with a song.