Neil Young Quotes

I've written songs everywhere, and I think the place does matter.

Genius is not only a what or a who, it is a where. It is grounded in a place every single time.

I like to write about wherever I happen to be.

Location is a very important aspect to songwriting.

I started with California, and I did not like it. I flew over to Seattle, and I did not like it much. I felt like Iowa is the place - I like the people and the environment.

For my first three books the setting (or place if you will) has always been a given - N.J. and the Dominican Republic and some N.Y.C. - so from one perspective you could say that the place in my work always comes first.

I've always felt writing a song was a bit like going on location. That's true in an almost literal sense. Where you are seeps in somehow.

I'd waste a holiday trying to set a story in this new place I'd visit, whereas I would never write a story about Indianapolis.

To me, the contemporary novel suffers from a lack of sense of place - or spirit of place, if you will. It's not important to most writers, I must assume, or they try to research a given background on sabbatical. Not for me. I write about places I've lived long before I ever set pen to paper.

If you're sitting in a place like Martha's Vineyard, I don't think you're going to write a song about a ski resort.

Being on the road is very inspiring.

I think that place is a huge part of pretty much any musician's work, in how one responds to an environment, whether it be your actual surroundings or the more figurative place we're all living in.

Not to ask the obvious question, but why Alaska?

I've always been a big believer in the power of place. I believe that where we are affects who we are when it comes to happiness, spirituality, economics and creative genius.

Our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, provided the madness is given us by divine gift.

My manager said the next best inspiration to heartbreak is travel, and it's true.

Your mood doesn't really matter. Some of the best creative work gets done on the days when you feel that everything you're doing is just plain junk.

The inspiration can come in such small ways that if you sit there just waiting for the big epiphany you'll sit there for the rest of your life.

Inspiration is tough to define, it comes from so many different places. I have multiple exhibitions touring the globe, so I do travel quite a bit and travel is a great way to find inspiration.

I really like to travel when I write. Something about seeing new things and being in new cultures and environments provokes new thoughts in your head.

Do you know the way to San Hose?

You must find your dream, then the way becomes easy.

I just have a vision of something, and it seems to go a long way. One thought goes a long way.

I think if you're inspired, you don't let a little thing like scheduling and deadlines get in your way.

Alas! I do not believe that inspiration falls from heaven. think it rather the result of a profound indolence.