I grew up on a farm in a small town where you do or say one thing and everybody knows about it. You see it happen there's always the town gossip - 'Oh did you hear about so and so or did you hear what went on in this household?' So I learned at a very young age just to keep my mouth shut.

We can no longer waste time and money. Every day more than 2 000 girls in America age 15-19 give birth - in the wealthiest most educated nation in the world! Neither you nor I should accept this statistic.

When I write about a 15-year old I jump I return to the days when I was that age. It's like a time machine. I can remember everything. I can feel the wind. I can smell the air. Very actually. Very vividly.

At my age the only problem is with remembering names. When I call everyone darling it has damn all to do with passionately adoring them but I know I'm safe calling them that. Although of course I adore them too.

I could always sing from a really young age but my voice was really weird. I used to make my mum turn up the radio every day in our house. She was well into music so I got that from her.

American Idol transcends age gender ethnicity everything.

The reason for the slow progress of the world seems to lie in a single fact. Every man is born under the yoke and grows up beneath the oppressions of his age.

The reason for the sadness of this modern age and the men who live in it is that it looks for the truth in everything and finds it.

With the song 'This Christmas' I wanted to do something that was kind of different. I mean Donny Hathaway is an amazing artist. So I wanted to bring my flavor to the song so when people over the age of 45 or 50 hear it they'll be like 'OK he did his thing with that record.' It's like I can appeal to everybody and not just a younger demographic.

Every age develops its own peculiar forms of pathology which express in exaggerated form its underlying character structure.