At one time if you were a black writer you had to be one of the best writers in the world to be published. You had to be great. Now you can be good. Mediocre. And that's good.

Poetry teaches us music, metaphor, condensation and specificity.

My hero in comic books is Jack Kirby: 'Spider-Man,' 'Fantastic Four,' 'Captain America,' Marvel Comics. He was really the basis for Marvel Comics.

A peasant that reads is a prince in waiting.

Every day that we wake up is a good day. Every breath that we take is filled with hope for a better day. Every word that we speak is a chance to change what is bad into something good.

A man's bookcase will tell you everything you'll ever need to know about him

The first thing you have to know about writing is that it is something you must do everyday. There are two reasons for this rule: Getting the work done and connecting with your unconscious mind.

Losing my parents really set me adrift in more ways than one. It's not just losing them. It's losing the possibility of family.

I took up writing to escape the drudgery of that every day cubicle kind of war.

The life most of us live are lives we are forced to live by immediate needs, influences, and pressures.

Our collective freedom... depends on our ability to defend the rights of others.

Though money cannot acquire you happiness, it does not mean that both money and happiness cannot exist together.

I'd love there to be more larger models, but it's just not going to happen. Designers love to design for slim girls.

Homer must have felt this pressure to come up with an epic poem that would sound totally new to an audience that had loved his previous best-seller.

O.K. I'm running out of appetite. Let this swirl- a bit like Crab Nebula- do for now.

Theater is my temple and my religion and my act of faith. Strangers sit in a room together and believe together.

When I perform, I lose myself. I'm in total control of that stage. I don't think about anything. I know what I want to do from the moment I step out there and I love every minute of it.

South Carolina is not a state; it is a cult.

Self-love . . . is the sole antagonist of virtue, leading us constantly by our propensities to self-gratification in violation of our moral duties to others.

My three P's would be pray, pray first. Second, prepare, and then persist.

I am 73 years old. I was born in Jerusalem. I'm the first prime minister of Israel to be born here. I am the only former general to become a prime minister.