[What she told herself before interviews:] I am the way I am; I look the way I look; I am my age.

the apathy and inattention of the average citizen is beyond comprehension.

By the very fact of public life, one seems to lose humanity in people's eyes.

growth requires purposeful division. Responsible dissent is the essence of democracy.

One is not allowed a grief for a life never lived. Yet one has buried the fruit of love, and a great deal of hope and many dreams.

It is hard for many people today to make the distinction between religion and religiosity, the latter a dangerous parody of the former.

... men of power are seldom protected from their own infirmities by the men subordinate to them -- not even in the sad circumstances of mental exhaustion.

Both teachers and learners go to sleep at their post as soon as there is no enemy in the field.

I understand by 'freedom of spirit' something quite definite - the unconditional will to say No where it is dangerous to say No.

Jump into the middle of things, get your hands dirty, fall flat on your face, and then reach for the stars.

My father was a watchmaker and an inventor. I saw him working in the house every day. The work ethic, I got from him. He worked hard and he never complained about it.

Never, ever, work for bad people

By reading Huckleberry Finn I felt I was able to justify my act of going into the mountain forest at night and sleeping among the trees with a sense of security which I could never find indoors.

Contrary to popular belief, it's not the legs that go first; it's remembering the word for legs.

Not everyone is as nice as us.

The wisdom, the strength, the confidence - the awakened heart and mind are always accessible -- here, now, always.

My mother was born in San Juan. So I'm Puerto Rican, Jewish, colored and married to a white woman. When I move into a neighborhood, people start running four ways at the same time.