[On social climbing:] Everything that goes up must come down.

[To the editor of the Harlan, Kentucky, Daily Enterprise, as a kindergartener:] I know everything that goes on in this town, and if you give me a job so will you.

The only way to keep a secret in Washington, if you are the one person who knows it, is never to tell another living soul.

In Harlan, Kentucky, we told stories the way some people play music. ... In the mountains, storytelling is truly an art form, and as much recreation as communication.

You can’t play with everything that looks playable, I guess even a child knows that.

We ignorant of ourselves beg often our own harms which the wise powers deny us for our good.

I had no real experience studying acting; I came to it having done other things for a living for many, many years, and I have this gigantic respect for experience and technique.

I think dance in any culture, in any form, is a true leveler.

Surround yourself with supportive people. All the negative people, man you have to push them aside.

The blackest ink of fate are sure my lot, And when fate writ my name it made a blot.

I think what I've learned from working on "Moonlight" is we see what happens when you persecute people. They fold into themselves.

Wisdom makes a slow defense against trouble, though a sure one in the end.

My mother had a rule, obviously, that I couldn't go across the street by myself, but I had to find a way of doing it.

A woman asked me recently, "What are the blocks to my happiness?" I said, "The belief that you have blocks."