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Art helped give me confidence.

I didn't want to be that artist that is successful as a result of someone else. Not that that's wrong, but I felt like I had what it took. I really believed I could do it on my own, so I wanted to try, at least.

Believing in yourself and what you do is so important. It took me a long time to find that confidence. If you're an artist and you're taking risks, then you're doing something right if some people don't get it.

It took me 11 years to struggle through one dumb book, and every day you just want to give up. But you don't find out you're an artist because you do something really well.

Success is what you do with your ability. It's how you use your talent.

Success and the art of making music are two different things for me.

I've spent my life pursing excellence as an artist, which is what I always wanted to do anyhow.

As an artist, you're always going to be yearning and wanting and never satisfied. I never feel like I've really achieved something.

One of the biggest obstacles I've overcome in my life was thinking I didn't deserve to be successful. Artistically I'm not as much of a heavyweight as someone like Paul Simon or Joni Mitchell, because I'm not a creator of original music, and I worried about that for years.

Success was one of my weakest points. I was so ill-prepared for it. I never appreciated within myself the gift of success. I never accepted it. People gave me so much momentum and love, and people really got my music, but I didn't accept it. That's probably one of my biggest regrets.