Some men are like musical glasses; to produce their finest tones you must keep them wet.

Exclusively of the abstract sciences, the largest and worthiest portion of our knowledge consists of aphorisms: and the greatest and best of men is but an aphorism.

Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.

There is one art of which people should be masters - the art of reflection.

Humor is consistent with pathos, whilst wit is not.

A great mind must be androgynous.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea.

That gracious thing, made up of tears and light.

The love of a mother is the veil of a softer light between the heart and the heavenly Father.

Religion is the most gentlemanly thing in the world. It alone will gentilize, if unmixed with cant.

Poor little Foal of an oppressed race! I love the languid patience of thy face.

Pain and misery are two different words, which both hurt.

Walk tall, or baby don't walk at all.

It's been a huge blessing, being able to travel and have a great life.

What was it like to wake up after having never gone to sleep? That was when you were born.

As we're growing closer to God, I ask people to decide when God wants them to stay planted exactly where they are.

The word griot...is the word for what I do and the role that the filmmaker has in society...the griot is a messenger of one's time, a visionary and the creator of the future.

The measure of who we are is how we react to something that doesn't go our way.

As you get older your willingness to tell more of the truth is awakened and you don't have to think about it or imagine it because now you know this to be true.

When you're very young and you learn something - a fact, a piece of information, whatever - it doesn't connect to anything.

You are all in jail. Each alone, solitary, with a heap of what he owns. You live in prison, die in prison. It is all I can see in your eyes - the wall, the wall!