I had 12 years of classical music as a child, playing piano competitions as a teenager, playing in blues bands and rock 'n' roll bands, country and jazz bands. I played in about any situation.

I learned when I started to study piano that I could play by ear. I could hear a song on the radio a couple of times and hear the song and the lyrics and sing it for you after a couple of plays.

I always know I'm a country singer, and regardless of where I've fallen into different places with my music, I know that, really, I'm a country singer.

I remember my uncle and my father telling me that my mother didn't want me because I was blind. She thought being blind was a disgrace and a punishment from God.

My life has been forged by middle class values: faith, hard work, deep respect for America and all that she stands for.

Every great discovery I ever made, I gambled that the truth was there, and then I acted in faith until I could prove its existence.

The relationship to one's fellow man is the relationship of prayer, the relationship to oneself is the relationship of striving; it is from prayer that one draws the strength for one's striving.

At the heart of every being lies creation's dream of a principle that will one day give organic form to its fragmented treasures. God is unity.