“Rhythm is sound in motion. It is related to the pulse, the heartbeat, ...” — Edward Hirsch Quote

“Rhythm is sound in motion. It is related to the pulse, the heartbeat, the way we breathe. It rises and falls. It takes us into ourselves; it takes us out of ourselves.”

“Read poems to yourself in the middle of the night. Turn on a single lamp and read them while you're alone in an otherwise dark room or while someone else sleeps next to you. Read them when you're wide awake in the early morning, fully alert. Say them over to yourself in a place where silence reigns and the din of the culture — the constant buzzing noise that surrounds us — has momentarily stopped. These poems have come from a great distance to find you.”

“If you want to paint the inner life, you paint it from the exterior. From the exterior, you breathe the inner life into your painting.”

“What keeps me interested is that I have to do it. It's like people wake up and they have to breathe; I have to write songs; I have to make music. That's like eating or breathing to me. It's that simple.”

“When you're from a town of 200 people in Northeast Louisiana, you're surrounded by country music. It's the soundtrack of your life. And so I had no choice but to eat, sleep and breathe country music, and I've dedicated my life to it.”