I never gave a damn 'bout the meter man, 'til i was the man who had to read the meters, man.

I actually do think that these kids are smarter than we were in the '70s. It's funny how people call them lame or slackers or whatever, but I don't think so. They know they're getting hustled, they feel it in their gut. But they don't know how to articulate it. And that problem is the reason why punk came into being the first place.

I have a little name. That's why people can remember it.

I have to say in some ways that we were really reactionaries, especially with the rock-and-rollers. They really hated us! We couldn't go in their studios or play their clubs, the whole deal. They just did not like punk rockers in those days, Jesus Christ! Them and the cops were the worst enemies; they were not open-minded about anything we were trying to do!

I'm still proud to be called a punk. I didn't say, "Oh, that's just a stage of my childhood and I grew out of that" — I just became a little older, that's all!

Making a record for Columbia is kind of like using a phone from AT&T — as long as they don't jump on the line and tell me what to say, I won't hang up.

Punk is not really a style of music. It was more like a state of mind. So there are punk painters like Raymond Pettibon|Raymond Pettibon. It’s anybody who doesn’t feel embraced by the big herd so they set up their own little world outside of that. If people think it sucks, then so fucking what? You're going to keep going.