Pretty much the only goal I've had since the beginning, which I still have, is just to get better, work hard, focus, and everything else will just be a bonus. As long as I'm satisfied, and I think we're getting better with every song compared to the last, then I'm satisfied and that's all I want. If we don't achieve that, then I'll be disappointed.
Boarding school didn't feel like my world, I felt like an alien; people there had a lot of money.
I guess the best thing about marriage is the fact you've got the coolest partner you can imagine by your side for all the things you're going to face in your life. So far, Juliet's been there for me. She's been good for my voice, good for my everything.
Vanity can easily overtake wisdom. It usually overtakes common sense.
We're so quick to point out our own flaws in others.
If it doesn't start with you, it dies with you.
Sometimes I've sat outside, not to tan, but as a result of that I ended up tanning slightly.
I want to be one of those people, be they writers, poets, musicians, who leaves clues for the next generation. The really good people leave clues that help feed the human race. That's my aspiration.
No one leaves an old friend unless they are ashamed.
Kids are always honest, 'cause they don't think they're ever going to die.
When the Strokes first started playing gigs, instead of getting into a costume for the shows, we talked about how we should dress every day, in real life, like we're playing onstage. I don't really care about clothes, but it's about wearing something that gives you social confidence. Or maybe helps you pick up chicks.
I kinda like messing with perception a little bit. Kind of what drugs do sometimes, and drinking. I mean, you know, you mess with your mind a little bit to see life from different angles. Within reason, if you can handle it.
If you're in a bar and a certain song comes on and the vibe is just different, it evokes the kinds of things that you want to feel, and if music can do that it's a very special thing.
Can our mind evolve to be something other than an extension of our animal needs?
Doing heroin is like walking around with a terrorist as your friend. It's like taking a terrorist around to parties You never know when it's going to blow up on you.
It's like an inner struggle for me, between saying I don't give a **** and trying to make it work. You want to do the right thing, but I'm sick of people thinking I'm difficult.
Whenever I go to shows, I end up looking at what shoes the guy onstage is wearing and the jacket he's got on. And when you know everything's gonna be under scrutiny, it makes you feel more comfortable if you have cool stuff.
I'm really grateful. But I never had the rock star dream. I thought it would be cool to be a modern-day composer.
Making an album can be like being pregnant: you want to pop that thing out and show everybody!
People are always arguing: New York or L.A.? They're both great places, you know.
The problem with touring isn't the traveling and the shows, it's the vegetal state you get into.
I see myself out of my own eyes, which means I have no idea what's going on the other way around. I just think I try to be a good person, and I fail.
I'm not a pop song lyric writer. I can't just focus on one simple meaning or even a double entendre.
I have to say, I'm good with gifts. If I find something perfect for a certain person, I'll just get it and put it away in a kind of nook under my bed - a little gift hutch, if you prefer.
The British press can be so annoying. They jerk you off with one hand and smack you with the other.
