"Power, like a desolating pestilence, Pollutes whate'er it touches."

"Death is the veil which those who live call life; They sleep, and it is lifted."

"… obedience, Bane of all genius, virtue, freedom, truth, Makes slaves of men, and, of the human frame, A mechanized automaton."

"We look before and after,  And pine for what is not; Our sincerest laughter  With some pain is fraught; Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought."

"The earth has grown old with its burden of care, but at Christmas it always is young, the heart of the jewel burns lustrous and fair, and its soul full of music breaks the air, when the song of angels is sung."

"I'll give up this sort of touring madness certainly, but music-everything is based on music. No, I'll never stop my music."

"By the late '80s, I was already giving up on rap music."

"People come up to me as I leave the stage after a performance and tell me tey saw my mother onstage with me every time I sing. I keep a sense of humor about it."