The Africans know I'm not an African. I'm an American.

In the dark times, if you have something to hold on to, which is yourself, you'll survive.

When you are kind to someone in trouble, you hope they'll remember and be kind to someone else. And it'll become like a wildfire.

We're here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.

Normal is nothing more than a cycle on a washing machine.

Art and life are subjective. Not everybody's gonna dig what I dig, but I reserve the right to dig it.

We're born with success. It is only others who point out our failures, and what they attribute to us as failure.

I always wore sneakers when I wanted to. It was always about being comfortable and being myself.

Children are a quality of life ... when our children are happy, then we are better as human beings.

It you want to be somebody, If you want to go some where, you've got to wake up and pay attention

It never occurs to me that there are things I can't do.

Self pride hinders the soul from flourishing,

It is quality rather than quantity that matters.

If you don't understand my silence, then you won't understand my words.

It is good to learn from the ancients. I'm a bit of an ancient myself. They had a lot of time to think about architecture and landscape.

The computer is the new fireplace, everyone in the family gathers around the digital hearth for warmth.

There are few people who think what a solemn thing it is to be a Christian. I guess there is not a believer in the world who knows what a miracle it is to be kept a believer.

The man who kills the animals today is the man who kills the people who get in his way tomorrow.

There's the psychotic ambitious side of myself that wants a fashion line and my own network and be like a combination of Oprah and Gwen Stefani. And have a perfume. Definitely a perfume.

So far as musical pedagogy is concerned - And by extension of musical creation - Nadia Boulanger is the most influential person who ever lived

It is meritorious to insist on forms; religion and all else naturally clothes itself in forms. Everywhere the formed world is the only habitable one.