It is the great arrogance of the present to forget the intelligence of the past

History is malleable. A new cache of diaries can shed new light, and archeological evidence can challenge our popular assumptions.

We're having a hard time understanding where jazz is going. What happened to jazz?

The genius of our country is improvisation, and jazz reflects that. It's our great contribution to the arts.

I think we too often make choices based on the safety of cynicism, and what we're lead to is a life not fully lived. Cynicism is fear, and it's worse than fear - it's an active disengagement.

Do not lose your enthusiasm. In its Greek etymology, the word enthusiasm means, "God in us."

History isn't really about the past - settling old scores. It's about defining the present and who we are.

People tend to forget that the word "history" contains the word "story".

By its very nature, no one person can ever be the center of Jazz.

I began to feel that the drama of the truth that is in the moment and in the past is richer and more interesting than the drama of Hollywood movies. So I began looking at documentary films.

I have made all my films for my children with the exception of my first film because my oldest daughter wasn't born when I was making the film about the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Greatest loss in life is the loss of a mother: The second greatest, the loss of Self.

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.

That's enough, and I have a ministry as a neighbor as well. A ministry as a friend and a ministry as an aunt and a godmother, and family is very much in the circle of my vocation.

The solidarity - now, you can't challenge [Donald Trump] until he gets there [White House], but let me tell you, we are united. We are going to do our job.

The reason conservatives cohere and radicals fight: everyone agrees about fears, no one about visions.

I cannot for the life of me understand what the Minister Of Transport does every day. He goes to the office at 9am and leaves at 5pm and the traffic in London is still horrendous.

Yes, love is free; it can dwell in no other atmosphere.

That's the great thing about plankton. It pretty much keeps to itself.

...good things happen to the human spirit when it is left alone.

The magic formula that successful businesses have discovered is to treat customers like guests and employees like people.