I don't like to go to strange places. I was in Italy for about five hours on my way to Africa.

You've got to learn to leave the table When love's no longer being served".

I tell you what freedom is to me: no fear.

What kept me sane was knowing that things would change, and it was a question of keeping myself together until they did.

You can't help it. An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times.

Life is short. People are not easy to know. They're not easy to know, so if you don't tell them how you feel, you're not going to get anywhere, I feel.

You have to learn to get up from the table when love is not being served.

Talent is a burden not a joy. I am not of this planet. I do not come from you. I am not like you.

How do you explain what it feels like to get on the stage and make poetry that you know sinks into the hearts and souls of people who are unable to express it

There's no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were.

Slavery has never been abolished from America's way of thinking.

You have this thing called a life. Its only you that gets to live it and you only get to do it one time

Take us to the in-between, Where earth meets sky, and wake meets dream.And time rushes by, unseen.Take us to the infinite night, Where up is down, and left is right, And dark vanquishes light.

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.

Let me get this straight," I say. "You're practically ordering me to die. What kind of guidance counselor are you?

I really never felt any tremendous aggravation or separation.

Nevada's one of the most conservative states in the Union, but you can do what you want in Vegas and nobody judges you.

I require and enforce as non-interrupted a state of living as you can get in America right now without going off to live by yourself in the mountains.

All my adult life people have been helping me.

There is magic in sincere forgiveness - magic to heal.

I think sometimes you have to just imagine something that looks pretty impossible. By imagining something that is impossible, automatically you wish you could make it possible.