I think being negative is being positive. You can't improve without stating the problem.

I think satire is most effective when you love the thing you're satirizing rather than... have a vendetta against it.

I think you can be conservative and fight for what you believe in without being mean-spirited or bash people or be ugly about it.

I think my philosophy in music has been to accentuate the positive.

Pretending is the grease of non-relationships. Pretending is how you and I get through the day without ever having to know each other. When I walk in the room, you say to me, 'How are you?' Well, you don't want to know. And, frankly, I don't want to tell you. So I just say, 'Fine,' and you go, 'Fine.' And off we go.

I think it's possible to be multi-rooted, rather like a banyan tree, without being deracinated.