Yoga introduced me to a style of meditation. The only meditation I would have done before would be in the writing of songs.

I don’t need to manufacture trauma in my life to be creative. I have a big enough reservoir of sadness or emotional trauma to last me.

Without the voice of reason, every faith is its own curse.

I write the music, produce it and the band plays within the parameters that I set.

Mr. Breschnev says we will bury you, I don’t subscribe to that point of view. It seems like such an ignorant thing to do, if the Russians love their children, too.

Peter Townshend shows us it’s all right to grow up. There is dignity after rock’n’roll.

My comfortable existence is reduced to a shallow meaningless party.

If manners maketh the man as someone said, then he’s the hero of the day.

The best art is the one that challenges and inspires.

Music is a way to connect with our own humanity.

In my quest to become unique, I’ve become a statistic.

Intellectually I’m probably a Republican.

I exist in a state of almost perpetual hysteria.

You have to be open to new ideas and experiences.

I really wanted to work with David Lynch. I was a big fan of The Elephant Man and Eraserhead.

The more irrational of us are worried about the millennium ending – as if a date would really matter.

I find that the rhythm of going on long walks will suggest melodies.

Art is a journey of self-discovery and expression.

Music is a way to find meaning and purpose in our lives.

I see songs not as a commodity used up when the album goes off the charts, which is often the case with pop songs. I see them as a body of work. Life should be breathed into them.

The logical process will often be the safe one. I tend, when I’m given that choice, to go the way that’s not safe.

I was famous overnight. I went from nowhere to being really big.

I think I’m a focus for international attention.

Music is a reflection of our times and our emotions.

It’s important to stay true to yourself, no matter what others might think.

The best songs come from a place of honesty and vulnerability.

There is no monopoly on common sense on either side of the political fence.

I do my best work when I am in pain and turmoil.

Music is the soundtrack to our lives.

Music is a journey, not a destination.

I made two movies before The Police had a hit record: I did Quadrophenia and a film called Radio On.

At night a candle’s brighter than the sun.

I can’t fly a flag for monogamy or whatever the opposite is; it depends on the person and on the situation.

Life is an adventure, and music is one of its greatest pleasures.

Music should challenge us and make us think.

I was recruited to teach 9-year-olds. I taught for two years.

Melancholy is no bad thing.

I hate most of what constitutes rock music, which is basically middle-aged crap.

Creativity is about taking risks and being willing to fail.

There’s something magical about a live performance that can’t be replicated in a studio.

I try to give the media as many confusing images as I can to retain my freedom. What’s real is for my children and the people I live with.

Sooner or later we learn to throw the past away, history will teach us nothing.

I was brought up as a Catholic and went to church every week and took the sacraments. It never really touched the core of my being.

The human experience is something that connects us all, and music is a reflection of that.

Success always necessitates a degree of ruthlessness. Given the choice of friendship or success, I’d probably choose success.

Don’t judge me, you could be me in another life.

I think you can get the wrong impression about me from my work and think I’m always a bit down. I’m not that way at all. I’m fun-loving.

It’s important to remember that you’re part of a larger whole.

The more I learn about the world, the more I realize how interconnected everything is.

Music is a way of talking about the things that words can’t quite capture.

Men go crazy in congregation. They only get better one by one.

I have a big problem with piped music. I like either silence or to listen to it properly.

Like Yoga, the spiritual life is actually very difficult.

Being a musician means constantly being in a state of discovery.

I find inspiration in everyday life, in the people I meet, and in the places I visit.

If you really want to define civilization it should be a culture that doesn’t destroy its environment. If you burn down the kitchen one day and expect to eat the next, it is not even intelligent, let alone civilized.

I realize that nothing’s as it seems.

Love is stronger than justice.

I think music is the best therapy for a lot of people.

The more I know, the more I realize I don’t know.

That sense of failure, I don’t know where people put it who don’t write songs and aren’t able to emote physically. It must go somewhere.

I never saw no miracle of science that did not go from a blessing to a curse.

I don’t understand American football at all. It looks like all-in wrestling with crash helmets.

I’ve always been interested in music as a way of expressing ideas, feelings, and emotions.

Life is too short to worry about anything. You had better enjoy it because the next day promises nothing.

For to sit in a room full of books, and remember the stories they told you, and to know precisely where each one is located and what was happening in your life at time or where you were when you first read it is the languid and distilled pleasure of the connoisseur.

Nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could, for all those born beneath an angry star, lest we forget how fragile we are.

I learned to change my accent; in England, your accent identifies you very strongly with a class, and I did not want to be held back.

Creativity is a gift. It’s also a responsibility.

The most powerful way to connect with people is through music.

One of the rewards of success is freedom. the ability to do whatever you like.

So just to be truthful to my own sensibility, I need to acknowledge that the season is not all joy and light for a lot of people. It’s tough – environmentally, emotionally, spiritually.

I’m very much afraid of being mad – that’s my one fear.

I think every musician is searching for something. They’re searching for a connection, for truth.

Sometimes you have to look through the dark to see the light.

Takes more than combat gear to make a man Takes more than a license for a gun Confront your enemies, avoid them when you can A gentleman will walk but never run.

What might save us, me and you, is if the Russians love their children too.

I come from a family of losers, and I’ve rejected my family as something I don’t want to be like.

Art is the most beautiful form of expression.

You don’t have to be a great singer to make a great record.

They build machines they can’t control, and bury the waste in a great big hole.

Every day is a brand new day!

I’ve only paid lip service to a spiritual life.

The beauty of music is that it’s a universal language.

I try not to think of myself as a celebrity. I just want to be a musician.

How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer’s deadly toy?

Let your soul be your pilot.

The acceptance of death gives you more of a stake in life, in living life happily, as it should be lived. Living for the moment.

I think the world’s a much better place when people are allowed to be themselves.

I don’t know why people are so hung up on fame. It’s just a byproduct of success.

If I were a Brazilian without land or money or the means to feed my children, I would be burning the rain forest too.

If you love someone, set them free.

I want to get old gracefully. I want to have good posture, I want to be healthy and be an example to my children.

Music is a powerful thing. It can bring people together, make them dance, make them cry.

I think you have to pay attention to the people you love.

I’m not speaking as someone who has reached satori or anything else. I’m a student.

Be yourself, no matter what they say.

It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile.