Louis Armstrong is quite simply the most important person in American music. He is to 20th century music (I did not say jazz) what Einstein is to physics.

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.

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

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.

Every time he raised his hands on her. He killed a prince from a fairy tale somewhere deep within her heart, brutally.

I'm not the only one working for democracy in Burma - there are so many people who have worked for it because they believe that this is the only way we can maintain the dignity of our people.

If I had my life to live over, I'd pick more daisies.

I know the media likes to personalize political debates, and I know the government will demonize me.

Behavioral change is more important than individual product choices. They both have a role to play.

You know, I have a deep, deep affinity for Dr. Suess.

The chains of a slave are broken the moment he considers himself a free man.

I love hitting into the rough because it gets me close to the people.

When people call me God, I say, no, I'm still an angel or saint of acting. I still have a long way to go.

You can't create a monster, then whine when it stomps on a few buildings.