We need true free thinkers, people who really say what they feel and have good, genuine intentions.
Why, when we know that there's no such thing as perfect, do most of us spend an incredible amount of time and energy trying to be everything to everyone? Is it that we really admire perfection? No - the truth is that we are actually drawn to people who are real and down-to-earth. We love authenticity and we know that life is messy and imperfect.
I love iconoclasts. I love individuals. I love people that are true to themselves, whatever the cost.
The most peaceful thing in the world is plowing a field. Chances are you’ll do your best thinking that way. And that’s why I’ve always thought and said, farmers are the smartest people in the world, they don’t go for high hats and they can spot a phony a mile off.
I want friends, not admirers. People who respect me for my character and my deeds, not my flattering smile. The circle around me would be much smaller, but what does that matter, as long as they're sincere?
My first job is to write the characters as full and authentic people as well as I can.
I have the best people around me. None of them have ever been on the radio. They're all such great people, and I found that I was able to be a better person when I was doing the radio show. It kept me from being a radio person.
I answered her spiritually. And that is where Oprah [Winfrey]comes from. She comes from a place of the truth within her. And I think that's why we clicked. And I think that's why we still continue to click.
All the drama you see about Christianity or the Catholic religion? People are seeing through that, and there are really authentic people out there with faith.
I always try to write about believable people.
The music business is filled with some nice people but a lot of strange people, so when you come across someone who's really genuine at an environment as bizarre as an awards show, you typically gravitate to them.
I go home to Iowa. I call it defrosting my heart. Everyone in Iowa is so simple, a genuine. In this business, sometimes you can get cold-hearted. When I go, even if it's 20 below and snowing, I come back with a warm heart.
