The real 1960s began on the afternoon of November 22, 1963. It came to seem that Kennedy's murder opened some malign trap door in American culture, and the wild bats flapped out.

Vatican II was a force that seized the mind of the Roman Catholic Church and carried it across centuries from the 13th to the 20th.

Leaders make things possible. Exceptional leaders make them inevitable.

Handwriting is civilization's casual encephalogram.

A rattlesnake loose in the living room tends to end all discussion of animal rights.

People travel because it teaches them things they could learn no other way.

Never try to wear a hat that has more character than you do.

As they marched, the crowds lining the route broke into applause, a sweet and deeply felt spontaneous pattering that was a sort of communal embrace. Welcome home.

Never forget the power of silence, that massively disconcerting pause which goes on and on and may last induce an opponent to babble and backtrack nervously.

Not to forgive is to be imprisoned by the past, by old grievances that do not permit life to proceed with new business.

One can live with the thought of one's own death. It is the thought of the death of the words and books that is terrifying for that is the deeper extinction.

The world is too brutal for me—I am glad there is such a thing as the grave—I am sure I shall never have any rest till I get there.

In a cool solitude of treesWhere leaves and birds a music spin, Mind that was weary is at ease, New rhythms in the soul begin.

I have no social position and I stay away from what is known as society as much as possible.

When the heart submits, then Jesus reigns. When Jesus reigns, there is rest.

Considering the amount of work I put into each piece, the amount I need to make from it is pretty high. I won't sell for less... but that means I rarely sell.

Even the two times that I left, I never really felt like I left the band. It's very bizarre. It's like there's sort of an umbilical cord that stretches between us spiritually.

I always thought I was good. That's why it was so frustrating when other people didn't agree.

What I meant by 'we would know the mind of God' is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God. Which there isn't. I'm an atheist.

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 foundations and individual donors whose priorities don't align with my organization's.

When I reflect on the issues that black Hollywood has had with the lack of representation at the Oscars, I realized that we have a responsibility to tell stories that are meaningful for our history.