"Every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man has a right to knock him down for it. Martyrdom is the test."

"You cannot spend money in luxury without doing good to the poor. Nay, you do more good to them by spending it in luxury, than by giving it for by spending it in luxury, you make them exert industry, whereas by giving it, you keep them idle."

"The return of my birthday, if I remember it, fills me with thoughts which it seems to be the general care of humanity to escape."

"The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope."

"For me, you have to not have a formula. You have to not even sit down and say, 'I want to write right now.' It has to just kind of come out. It's not something you can plan."

"I think people appreciate a songwriter who shows different sides. The whole angst thing is cool, but if that's all you've got, it's just boring. Everything I write, whether it's happy or sad, has a sense of humor to it."

"When written in Chinese the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity."

"I like to read books and be alone I'm not social butterfly person."