“If after hearing my songs just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend or perhaps to strike a loved one it will all have been worth the while.”

“I dont think this kind of thing [satire] has an impact on the unconverted, frankly. Its not even preaching to the converted; its titillating the converted. I think the people who say we need satire...”

“My last public performance for money was in 1967. For free, it was 1972, with the exception of two little one-shot, one-song things. But that's just for friends, out of friendship for the people in...”

“Political satire became obsolete when they awarded Henry Kissinger the Nobel Peace Prize.”

“I am never forget the day I first meet the great Lobachevsky.In one word he told me secret of success in mathematics:Plagiarize!Plagiarize!Let no one else's work evade your eyes!Remember why the go...”

“It's a sobering thought: When Mozart was my age he had been dead for two years.”

“Is there no context for our lives? No song, no literature, no poem full of vitamins, no history connected to experience that you can pass along to help us start strong? You are an adult. The old on...”

“I am neither male nor female, nor am I sexless. I am the Peaceful One, whose form is self-effulgent, powerful radiance.”

“You have peace," the old woman said, "when you make it with yourself.”

“Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.”