Nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced.

Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.

Life isn't worth living, unless it is lived for someone else.

Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.

Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.

God is clever but not dishonest.

Try not to become a man of success but rather a man of value.

Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.

Talent is a faucet. When it is on, one must write. Inspiration is a farce that poets have invented to give themselves importance.

Frightened people live in their own special hell.

I saw the end of his life right there in that single moment. His pride, his decency, his secrets, his death.

[Globalization] has enriched the world scientifically and culturally and benefited many people economically as well.

Sometimes a decision has to be made by a single individual, who has the authority to enforce it. That's why you need a captain. You can't run a ship by a committee-at least not all the time.

Prime-time network television has become an island without religion in an ever-more-religious America.

Sometimes my art is just an illusion - or is it?

If I had a choice as to my perfect career, I would make a couple of films a year and then concentrate on natural history.

If power is abstraction, which many black men, black women, and people of color have very little voice in, well, then I want to sit at the table.

I write about race in America in hopes of undermining the notion of race in America.