“Communicating is art: you don't study and you don't learn, it's innate and very rare.”

“Can the plural possessive express the feelings in your heart? If you don't learn art now, you will never learn to breathe!”

“You trust them (white Americans), and I don't. You studied what he wanted you to learn about him in schools. I studied him in the streets and in prison, where you see the truth.”

“You don't make art, you find it”

“If you don't learn how to understand the world, then don't be surprised if it fails to understand you.”

“Growing up you don't learn to be strong, you learn to be careful.”

“You live and learn. Or you don't live long.”

“Art is vice. You don't marry it legitimately, you rape it.”

“All scientists must communicate their work, for what is the point of learning new things about how the world works if you don't tell anyone about them?”

“By nature of me being the one singing it and writing it there is always an innate bit of autobiography there … but I think I learned years ago that you don't get songs that have that long stride and that pivot-hinge ability if it's too much diary entry.”