The truth is I would do my job for free! I love it every day. If you can possibly choose a vocation that's an avocation, a job that's really a hobby, then you'll be way ahead of the game.

In America there is institutional racism that we all inherit and participate in, like breathing the air in this room - and we have to become sensitive to it.

The story of the African-American people is the story of the settlement and growth of America itself, a universal tale that all people should experience.

The first step toward tolerance is respect and the first step toward respect is knowledge.

The thing about black history is that the truth is so much more complex than anything you could make up.

In Ethiopia, the black people became Christians 1700 years ago, hundreds of years before Northern Europe turned to Christianity... And here, most of the saints are black.

We can revolutionize the attitude of inner city brown and black kids to learning. We need a civil rights movement within the African-American community.

I want to be a figure for prison reform. I think that the criminal justice system is rotten.

Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.

Wherever you go in the history of America, there have been Black people making contributions, but their contributions have been obscured, lost, buried.

Well, certainly one of the ironies of the success of affirmative action is that the middle class within the black community no longer lives within 'black community' by and large.

American Idol' is a $900 million-a-year corporation. When you are dealing with that, you can't come off with lies - it's either the truth or nothing.

We (ultra runners) alternate between depression and stupidity.

I am persistent about everything I believe in. If there's a film I want to do, a record, a Broadway show - I do it. Everybody can hate it but I will still do it. I am fearless that way.

Live as though only God and yourself were in this world, so that your heart may not be detained by anything human.

There are lots of things I really like besides girls. Like pizza. And pranking. And CHUCK NORRIS.

A competitive world offers two possibilities. You can lose. Or, if you want to win, you can change.

What gives me hope is art - it's the most powerful weapons ever created. It's a weapon of mass construction.

I died to the law so that I might live for God.

The first time I saw E.T., the actual image of an alien, and he was so sweet-looking. I wanted him. I wanted E.T.

The designated hitter rule is like letting someone else take Wilt Chamberlain's free throws.