Quotes About Influence

English has always been a mongrel tongue, snapping up words from every continent its speakers encountered.

I'm a 'tweener,' man! I couldn't march with Dr. King and them. And I'm too old to be a hip-hopper. But I've been granted honorary status in each generation... I see my tongue as a bridge over which ideas can travel back and forth.

My mother tongue is German.

From the start, English has happily absorbed words from every tongue it's encountered.

The contribution of Islam to history and modern civilization is the product of the efforts of peoples of many races and tongues which came to accept its way of life.

I was like a fat, sweaty kid growing up in Queens who just was plopped down in front of 'Entertainment Tonight' by my parents.

That's going to be on my headstone: 'He came. He wrote 'In the Air Tonight.' He... died.'

I'm interested in every aspect of fashion. I think it's in my bones. When I was younger I used to be my mum's stylist, picking things out for her to wear. I'd say to her, 'If anybody asks you who styled you tonight say, 'Georgia.'

As scary as it is, we have to admit that there are folks in the world who only know the Roots as 'the band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.''

I gave up my base in popular culture when I left the Tonight Show.

I grew up watching 'The Tonight Show' and Jimmy Fallon on 'SNL.'

I learn tons of John Frusciante's licks from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I'm never going to play like the Chili Peppers, but I might use that if I've got a dub beat or reggae thing mixed with a soul thing.

I've had tons of incredible conversations with people who say they got married or buried relatives to my songs.

My dad would play 'The Blue Album' a lot, the first Weezer album, and that influenced my alternative indie thing and that's kind of how I found tons and most of my favorite bands.

Dick Cheney and Bush's rise to power were built on tons of money from corporations and a dulled press.

I play tons of authority figures, whether it's the dad or the cop or the boss. I think it's a combination of how I look, who I am.

Tons of people inspire my music, and now when I do an interview, I'm scared to say who they are.

I'm a big fan of other guitar players, Duane Allman and tons of them, but I don't really love totally guitar-specific albums.

Without Tony Allen, there would have been no Afrobeat.

Growing up I watched a lot of Hong Kong movies, I watched big stars like Chow Yun Fat, Andy Lau, and Tony Leung on the big screens.

Frank Sinatra did 'Born Free', Tony Bennett did 'Walkabout,' but you have no control over who does what, really. So you just hold yourself responsible for the stuff you do, and then get filthy rich on all this stuff that other people have done.

When you open up 'Instagram,' you need to know that you're seeing the real Tony Hawk, the real Taylor Swift, the real Burberry.

Give Obama a script he has made his own, and he is the motivational speaker to end all speakers. Tony Robbins cloned with Honest Abe.

My father, Oliver Hynes, was an educator. He was originally just a teacher, a very good one, but then he was promoted to be in charge of education for the entire area. He was always an inspirational teacher. He was my big personal supporter, always coming here for the Tony Awards. My mother, Carmel, was a homemaker.