I think that religion is an integral part of human needs, but the question also is how you understand religion.
For a sunrise or a sunset, you're manic or you're depressed. Will you ever feel ok?
One of my favorite modern American authors is Denis Johnson. I'm deeply inspired by all of his work - I rip him off constantly.
The idea of forever is kind of ridiculous, which is unfortunate because its kind of a nice thing to say, you know. I think it softens the blow of mortality and having to say goodbye to everything you know and everyone you love and all that kind of thing.
You can't manufacture inspiration, so a lot of it is still a waiting game for me. There's still a lot of mystery to songwriting. I don't have a method that I can go back to - they either come or they don't.
I'm kind of like, "never say never. "
When you write a song, the goal is not to convey the details of your life. You should write a memoir or something if that's what you're going to do.
That is my temperament. I enjoy creating systems on a grand scale, and I enjoy helping people who are vulnerable. And I enjoy crushing bastards.
[Prudence] is the virtue of that part of the intellect [the calculative] to which it belongs; and. . . our choice of actions will not be right without Prudence any more than without Moral Virtue, since, while Moral Virtue enables us to achieve the end, Prudence makes us adopt the right means to the end.
God reigns when we take a liberal view, when a liberal view is presented to us.
Between understanding and faith immediate connections must subsist.