And now, I feel at 85, I really feel that I'm just ready to start.

I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs. I knew at that point I had to have a camera.

The guy who takes a chance, who walks the line between the known and unknown, who is unafraid of failure, will succeed.

I feel it is the heart, not the eye, that should determine the content of the photograph. What the eye sees is its own. What the heart can perceive is a very different matter.

Enthusiasm is the electricity of life. How do you get it? You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit.

At first I wasn't sure that I had the talent, but I did know I had a fear of failure, and that fear compelled me to fight off anything that might abet it.

Nothing came easy. I was just born with a need to explore every part of my mind. And with long searching and hard work, I became devoted to my restlessness.

You have a 45mm automatic pistol on your lap, and I have a 35mm camera on my lap, and my weapon is just as powerful as yours. (To Black Panther militant Eldridge Cleaver)

I picked up a camera because it was my choice of weapons against what I hated most about the universe: racism, intolerance, poverty.

If you don't have anything to say, your photographs aren't going to say much.

The subject matter is so much more important than the photographer.

Reflection may be essential to a scholar, but it’s taboo in social intercourse.

My father used to say that stories are part of the most precious heritage of mankind.

All the way to heaven is heaven, because Jesus said, "I am the way.

Preach the Gospel, die, and be forgotten.

The average American is not concerned with his society. He talks about it, but you know if one speaks of being concerned, I mean something about which one loses one's sleep, sometimes.

It's embarrassing that we all just walk through life blindly accepting that scrambled eggs are fundamentally associated with mornings.

If a girl doesn't have a sense of humor, then what would you have to talk about?

The Warrior listens to the words of certain thinkers.

My main philosophy is that money is a loan from God. I'm in charge of it. I'm responsible for investin it, giving some of it away, providing for my family, and protecting it.

Your intention to love, no matter what, is the absolute key to happiness.