Jerusalem has been - and for many, still is - a metaphor for destruction and the vengeance of an offended God. She is the city where believers have killed unbelievers to give life to faith.

Hindsight is not necessarily the best guide to understanding what really happened. The past is often as distorted by hindsight as it is clarified by it.

The brief legal emancipation of Jews during the Napoleonic wars released unparalleled economic, professional, and cultural energies. It was though a high dam had suddenly been breached.

Free yourself from fruitlessly worrying about things you can’t control and put your energy towards the things you can. Seize the day and take effective action on things you can change.

My mom, dad, grandparents, we all do voices.

If Shakespeare has not been equalled, he is sure to be surpassed, and surpassed by an American born now or yet to be born.

Just as we bemoan the passing away of the Great Novel, a great novelist is likely to emerge, perhaps even from Denmark or Switzerland, to prove us wrong.

People who know my stage act know it's nothing but pushing boundaries.

The real is always way ahead of what we can imagine.

And sometimes I think there isn’t anything to us but our mistakes.

I've recorded songs that are prayers in different styles, not just in the traditional gospel style that can help and comfort them. It's the words that matter most.

Find out where the ball is, get there; hit it.

We're not meant to fit in. We're meant to stand out.