I lived on a couch in my office for ten years, and then luckily, I got wealthy enough to build a little penthouse on the roof — 700 square feet — and I moved up there.

All you have to do is play good enough to get your point across because you're not going to play like - I'm not going to play like I did when you played those earlier records.

When I decided to sell my company, I already had enough. I live simply. I don't own a house, a car, or even a TV. The less I own, the happier I am. The lack of stuff gives me the priceless freedom to live anywhere anytime. So I didn't need or even want the money from the sale of the company. I just wanted to make sure I had enough for a simple comfortable life.

It was only with her help that I did everything. The tragedy was that after 40 years of marriage she died of cancer.

they are much more ready to put their family and their children first in a way that I regret that I didn't do.

And so, I went to Texas Tech El Paso. I could literally throw a stone out of my window and hit someone in Juárez, Mexico. And yet, it was the most beautiful place to practice, because in that county hospital we saw everything in young people, untreated; it felt very meaningful, but my evenings were mine to write and to develop my voice, and my weekends were mine. And I eventually got hired to Stanford in a roundabout way, largely because of that.