America is exceptional: but because it yields the likes of Obama, not the likes of Bush.

True patriots measure themselves not by personal wealth or power but by the degree to which they contribute to the community.

The next time someone uses denial of citizenship as a weapon or brandishes the special status conferred upon him by the accident of birth, ask him this: What have you done lately to earn it?

Today's multiracial Americans are at greater liberty to choose how they'd like to be seen, and under less pressure to pass for white.

We're all better off...when we're all better off.

The Boomers have modeled a set of bad habits, and one grand gesture is not going to unwind all those bad habits.

Identity in America is complicated but it's also simple: it's about whom you identify with and who identifies with you.

As it stands now, those of us who are lucky enough to be citizens by birth don't have to do much. Very little is asked of us.

Throughout this country's history there have of course been systematic efforts to create an official underclass.

To be sure, the United States has profound problems, not least our faltering educational and physical infrastructure.

Society becomes how you behave.

There was a moment in my life when I really wanted to kill myself. And there was one other moment when I was close to that. . . . But even in my most jaded times, I had some hope.

Sometimes it is easier to feel the veins wilted and empty than to sense the coldness of blood in fear

Some things were secret even after you told them.

Decision and determination are the engineer and fireman of our train to opportunity and success.

I am so proud and grateful to be my mom's daughter.

In this world the inclination to do things is of more importance than the mere power.

In the kingdome of blind men the one ey'd is king. [In the kingdom of blind men the one eyed is king.]

I always feel like, when you go into an audition, your best chance at success is to be as comfortable as you can be. It's generally more helpful for me to just be confident and comfortable.

They say productivity is the key to confidence, and confidence ... to productivity. And they're happy walking back and forth between these two rooms, each the excuse for the other.

I think it's possible for all of us to use our yoga to distract us from our yoga. Because we get so caught up in the form that we forget the soul.