I'm not the kind of man that holds out on a need for nothing. I'm as lonely as any man around, I just don't like to pick 'em up and lay 'em down.
History never repeats itself. Man always does.
If you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
The hallmark of a free society is that I may totally disapprove of what you say, but I'll defend your right to say it until I die.
It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.
The more often a stupidity is repeated, the more it gets the appearance of wisdom.
Punk-rock gave music back to people. For a long time, when I was very young, I went to go see arena rock bands. I was 16 and it was all I could get in to see, legally. And I saw Led Zeppelin and Ted Nugent and Van Halen and all that. Me and [Minor Threat and Fugazi vocalist] Ian MacKaye would go to these concerts, and it was fun.
What comes from the heart lands on the heart creatively.
If I were to begin life again, I would devote it to music. It is the only cheap and unpunished rapture upon earth.
Getting back in the directors chair - there's a sense of like doing something every year. It's not like riding a bike, you're always learning new things, you're gonna face new challenges and when you face new challenges you'll have an answer for them.