I try to make my mood uplifting and peaceful, then watch the world around me reflect that mood.

My parents were very active in the Civil Rights Movement. My father was a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) worker; my mother was a secretary with the Panthers.

I feel at home in a lot of places, but I am truly an African-American.

Happiness is the bomb cosmetic! When I'm smiling, sometimes I'm giving thanks for all the things I have rather than worrying about the things I don't.

Soothsayers are like that. They see many futures but never their own.

I would rather stand alone in the light of truth than in the crowd filled with error.

Work? I never worked a day in my life. I always loved what I was doing, had a passion for it.

Face it girls. I'm older and I have more insurance.

Wonder is defined by Thomas [Aquinas] in the Summa Theologiae [I-II, Q. 32, a. 8], as the desiderium sciendi, the desire for knowledge, active longing to know.

You cannot have a testimony without a test. Will you pass the test or have the monies?

I truly believe, as an institution, most major labels should just die.

People would ask me why I was doing what I was doing - but I always told them that I just loved to skate. There was no other explanation.

The future of the world depends on how well we meet it.

Yeah, well, we're all writers, aren't we? He's a writer that hasn't been published, and I'm a writer who hasn't written anything.