You don't ever earn a right to stop doing anything if you feel there is an obligation to move in terms of public service.

There will be those who will tell you that you can't make it because of how you look, because of the way you talk. We all have heard that - I almost listened.

Slavery is nothing to joke about! And the history of this nation's [the USA's] involvement with slavery is nothing to pass off in a joke.

What is blackness? Is it the way you talk? Do you got to say, 'Dey this, dey dat.' Or the way you dress? Or is it the forgiving of certain things? What is black enough?

Suppose something would happen to the president, who would be in charge? The Vice President. Joe Biden? You have got to be kidding today when you say the Taliban's not our enemy.

In the class that I teach at one University, I stress that my one-word definition of politics is money. You can't name a subject matter that money doesn't touch.

My experience politically has always been that one-word definition of politics: money. Keep your eye on the buck. And that tells you where the American people are going to be.

The first black president will be a politician who is black.

Certain black leaders would believe that you have to go through their prism: 'If I lay my hand on you, you're OK.' So many people have made a living off of the pimping of race.

Africa is not a country, but it is a continent like none other. It has that which is elegantly vast or awfully little.

Many voted in 2008 with the desire to see racism and racists humiliated by having a qualified black man elected president.

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise

The truth is hidden in books.

Strength is gathered on the journey, not granted at the outset.

You have to be able to look objectively at the problem, deflating the emotional part of it.

One may preach a covenant of grace more clearly than another... But when they preach a covenant of works for salvation, that is not truth.

Being present means living without control and always having your needs met.

Let the states of equilibrium and harmony exist in perfection, and a happy order will prevail throughout heaven and earth, and all things will be nourished and flourish.

I think you have to take me for me. I am who I am.

Manners easily and rapidly mature into morals.

You can't undo anything you've already done, but you can face up to it. You can tell the truth. You can seek forgiveness. And then let God do the rest.