I’m a fairly tormented artist, and I’m less willing to indulge myself in self-pity, outside of songwriting. – Dave Matthews
The idea that we’re somehow centrally important to the planet’s existence is pretty comical – although I’d like us to be. – Dave Matthews
So often we talk about saving the planet, but what we really mean is to save the planet the way it is, so we can live here. So that is can sustain us. – Dave Matthews
I think I am a very kind person. I think I’m joyful, but I could be kinder and I could be more joyful. I do believe peace is a state of grace, and not the absence of violence. – Dave Matthews
If I find something I like, I’ll chase it and see what comes out the other side. Once a song gets momentum and gets away from you, that’s a good sign. – Dave Matthews
I fear that our true motivation is about oil and our own flailing economy; about the failure to destroy Al Qaeda and about revenge. – Dave Matthews
The reason I play music is to touch people – for selfish reasons, as well. It feels good to make someone else feel something, whether it’s a kiss, a painting, good idea or it’s a song. – Dave Matthews
For me, in songwriting, I have a route I can take. Maybe there’s some forks, I can go this way, this way. But I know those roads. I still have the experience behind me. – Dave Matthews
I found there’s a fairly blatant racism in America that’s already there, and I don’t think I noticed it when I lived here as a kid. But when I went back to South Africa, and then it’s sort of thrust in your face, and then came back here – I just see it everywhere. – Dave Matthews
South Africa gives me a perspective of what’s real and what’s not real. So I go back to South Africa to both lose myself and gain awareness of myself. Every time I go back, it doesn’t take long for me to get caught into a very different thing. A very different sense of myself. – Dave Matthews
My songs are like a three-legged dog – you have to get to know them to have any love for them. – Dave Matthews
I can’t believe that we would lie in our graves wondering if we had spent our living days well. I can’t believe that we would lie in our graves dreaming of things that we might have been. – Dave Matthews
I want to figure out a way to not be stupid with money, then make a whole bunch of it, then I want to move to Outer Mongolia. I want to milk a yak. Maybe I’ll just settle for a cow. – Dave Matthews
When I write the set, I try to create something that will not only be interesting for the audience, but will have a flow for the band, too, so we don’t get boring. – Dave Matthews
When I look at how fortunate I’ve been, being a musician… my response to being overpaid is that I should pay it back to my community in some way. – Dave Matthews
Success turns a lot of people off. I have a pretty solid sense of joy and respect that irritates people, and can irritate me, too. – Dave Matthews
A friend is always good to have, but a lover’s kiss is better than angels raining down on me. – Dave Matthews
