Africa is not just about where you are born. For me, Africa is the whole continent; from south to north, to east to west.

Your brain is your greatest weapon. Connect it to your heart, and you can go anywhere.

It is proven that when women are educated, the ability of the country goes up immediately.

I don't care about skin the color, everybody is a human being. Beneath every skin color, you bleed red. That's just the bottom line of the truth.

It doesn't matter what challenge you face, the most important thing is, when you fall, how you rise and how high you want to go, where you want to go from that rise on.

You cannot transform the society of people if the people are not part of the change.

You have to stand for something or you fall for everything.

From the moment you are clear in your vision of yourself and how you project that vision in your family, your community and in the world, that's all that matters.

Dream big, as long as you do it in sync with your truth, with your heart, your brain. And you are not hurting anybody, go ahead and do it.

My legacy is not only about legacy, it's about how we as a human family learn to live together within our difference.

I don't like the idea of something being pure. It means we have to be perfect, I don't want to be perfect.

My body is my journal, and my tattoos are my story.

We are all a small part of a puzzle which contains billions of pieces. The puzzle cannot be complete without each and every one.

It's nice to be able to let the fans know that you're around and say 'Hi.'

All I care about really is writing something worthwhile for children, something that will engage them in some way and stimulates in them a sense of wonder.

She became for me an island of light, fun, wisdom where I could run with my discoveries and torments and hopes at any time of day and find welcome.

[An educated person:] One who voluntarily does more thinking than is necessary for his own survival.

Who besides guys like me are part of the reality-based community?

I have a secret passion for mercy. . . but justice is what keeps happening to people.

I think our animals are angels, earth-angels, pointing out for us the steadfast path of love, loyalty, optimism, faith, joy, hope. They teach us everything important about life.

Sometimes I feel like art is supposed to mirror life, but strangely it's as if art is trying to catch up to life, to a certain extent?