"Prison has taught me that there is a part of you that no-one can ever take from you, and that is your heart."

“Oppressed people are frequently very oppressive when first liberated. They know but two positions: somebody's foot on their neck or their foot on somebody's neck.”

“Code wants to be simple... I had to give up the idea that I had the perfect vision of the system to which the system had to conform. Instead, I had to accept that I was only the vehicle for the system expressing its own desire for simplicity. My vision could shape initial direction, and my attention to the desires of the code could affect how quickly and how well the system found its desired shape, but the system is riding me much more than I am riding the system.”

“My mum would like to see me on the cover of 'Good Housekeeping' demonstrating children's toys with some nice lipstick on.”

“Even animals who sometimes seem unlovable to humans, have also feelings. They can suffer just as we do.”

“I'd hang out at the Borders bookstore until it closed.”

“As much as being in a rock band can be really glamorous and exciting - and it can be a lot of things that people imagine it to be - if you just live that lifestyle, you're gonna burn out really quickly.”

Source : "From "One Week" to 14 Albums: The Barenaked Ladies Still Rocking Strong and Silly After 27 Years". Interview with Kelli Bender, people.com. June 17, 2015.

“I teach people how to treat me by what I will allow.”

“I have often felt as though I had inherited all the defiance and all the passions with which our ancestors defended their Temple and could gladly sacrifice my life for one great moment in history. And at the same time I always felt so helpless and incapable of expressing these ardent passions even by a word or a poem.”