I think the legacy of the civil rights movement is that now whites are more open to being represented by people of color or people who are women or, again, non-traditional candidates.

I really think that's the key, part of the spiritual renewal that America needs to have, the notion that we really can have confidence in a better tomorrow.

Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.

We must invest in infrastructure development and rebuilding communities to create jobs.

There are a number of steps that we can take to reinvigorate and rebuild the economic and the physical infrastructure of our country and then to rebuild us, frankly, on a spiritual level.

I was the only person of color in the Senate, and my colleagues were Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms and Trent Lott.

Magic lies in challenging what seems impossible.

There are no permanent friends or permanent enemies, just permanent interests.

It's time to take the 'Men Only' sign off the White House door.

It's not impossible for a woman - a Black woman - to become President.

My parents were always philosophizing about how to bring about change. To me, people who didn't try to make the world a better place were strange.

Freedom necessarily means that many things will be done which we do not like.

You're too good for this world, and because of that the world will eventually crush you.

You can't build anything with a flimsy foundation. Friendship is the foundation.

If we remain compelled by comfort, we will miss the greatest adventures of our calling.

My children's faces are private candles i sometimes worship at.

Hollywood likes to put out their own message out a lot of times, and that message isn't the best one for everyone.

If any changes were to be made in society it had to be by the mothers.

The public buys "art" - but the word is drained of its meaning.

You would find in a lot of Zep stuff that the riff was the juggernaut that careered through and I worked the lyrics around this.

Obviously the first roles that you're proud of are the ones that everybody else liked too.