Every culture has something to be ashamed of, but every culture also has the right to change, to challenge negative traditions, and create to new ones.

Every great work of art ... is a celebration, an act of insubordination against the betrayals, horrors and infidelities of life.

I see people who talk about America, and then undermine it by not paying attention to its soul, to its poetry. I see polarization, reductionism and superficiality.

Once we know of atrocities we cannot remain silent, and knowledge inevitably leads to an urge to protect the innocent.

That, of course, is what great works of imagination do for us: They make us a little restless, destabilize us, question our preconceived notions and formulas.

I no longer believe that we can keep silent. We never really do, mind you. In one way or another we articulate what has happened to us through the kind of people we become.

You need imagination in order to imagine a future that doesn't exist.

It is amazing how, when all possibilities seem to be taken away from you, the minutest opening can become a great freedom.

The negative side of the American Dream comes when people pursue success at any cost, which in turn destroys the vision and the dream.

I eat my heart out alone.

I am suddenly left alone again on the sunny path, with a memory of the rain.

Why are you so scared and creeping around, taking photographs all over town, pictures in the dark that live in the light, the world is my playground too and I’ll do what I like.

If they knew how much you kept inside to keep from hurting them, but hurting yourself instead, maybe they’d love you more.

If I can be serious now, and I have the feeling I can.

There's always been an assumption that ocean shipping coming in and out of the Great Lakes is critical to the economy. It isn't.

I suffered from 'No one will ever fancy me!' syndrome, well into my teens. Even now I do not consider myself to be some kind of great, sexy beauty. Absolutely not.

We're going to raise the estate tax for wealthy, very wealthy people.

The only person that I have met, that I have ever been in awe of, is Eddie Vedder.

I won't lie to you and make you believe what's evil, is making love, and making friends, and meeting God your own way... the RIGHT way.

I smile and I think that one human being must always be discovering another - through love. And that this is the most important thing on earth, and the most lasting.

No wisdom that she may gain by experience and reflection hereafter, will compensate the loss of her present hilarity.