Going to places like Honduras, Nicaragua, and various African countries you get to see very clearly what the cause and effect is. We finance the obnoxious elites in those countries and they exploit their people so we don't have to say that we're doing the exploiting but nevertheless we are benefiting from it.

It sounds strange to say it, but you can be in a war zone and have a lot of fun. Even though war is essentially pain on all sides, human beings have the capacity to enjoy themselves. The soldiers are mostly young people, full of enthusiasm and energy, and that's an exciting thing for an old guy like me.

Politics is a part of life and art is about life. It doesn't mean that all the art has to be about politics -- in fact, heaven forbid. But politics is a totally legitimate area of focus for any art, whether it's painting or songwriting or anything else, as much as sex is, as much as spirituality is, as much as any other behavior of people is.

If you don't keep learning and growing, you're going to stagnate.

I remember when the idea of living to be 40 seemed absurd.

I can't imagine my life any other way than it's been.

Everything that makes a society run is broken in Iraq. The only real structure is the people's own sense of themselves as Iraqis, which was very strong. They're a proud people, and they trace their historic roots way, way back.

Abu Ghraib, as bad as it was, can't be compared to what Saddam was doing to people.

The second half of the '60s really was a kind of learning period, in terms of writing, for me.

Resisting the powers that be, we are keeping things from getting worse than they otherwise might be. And that effort is very much worthwhile.

Almost all the military personnel were wearing sunglasses. No Iraqis wear sunglasses. They really want to see your eyes. So immediately they can't trust the Americans.

Gotta kick at the darkness til it bleeds daylight.

'Gifts' was just a short little one-verse song that I used to close shows in the '60s.

Sun's up, uh huh, looks okay -

the world survives into another day,

and I'm thinking about eternity.

Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me.

The invitation for artists to compete to see who can be the most charitable is a wonderful thing.

If I had a rocket launcher, some son of a bitch would die.

'Each One Lost' I wrote the day after I got home. My week in Afghanistan was a very short trip, but it was a powerful experience.

There are some decision-makers in the world whose version of sanity is a little different from what I consider the right one.

Male female slave or free; peaceful or disorderly; maybe you and he will not agree; but you need him to show you new ways to see.

In between effect and cause and just beyond the range of normal sight, this glittering joker was dancing in the dragon's jaws.