I believed in studying just because I knew education was a privilege. It was the discipline of study, to get into the habit of doing something that you don't want to do.

Through first-class education, a generation marches down the long uncertain road of the future with confidence.

I'm not a person who writes really abstract things with oblique references. I look at abstraction like I look at condiments. Give me some Tabasco sauce, some ketchup, some mayonnaise. I love all of that. Put it on a trumpet. I've just got to have the ketchup and Tabasco sauce. That's my attitude about musical philosophy.

The rebuilding of New Orleans is an important point in the history of the United States.

Many a revolution started with the actions of a few. Only 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence. A few hanging together can lead a nation to change.

Swing is extreme coordination. It's a maintaining balance, equilibrium. It's about executing very difficult rhythms with a panache and a feeling in the context of very strict time. So, everything about the swing is about some guideline and some grid and the elegant way that you negotiate your way through that grid.

The blues. It runs through all American music. Somebody bending the note. The other is the two-beat groove. It's in New Orleans music, it's in jazz, it's in country music, it's in gospel.

Everything comes out in blues music: joy, pain, struggle. Blues is affirmation with absolute elegance. It's about a man and a woman. So the pain and the struggle in the blues is that universal pain that comes from having your heart broken. Most blues songs are not about social statements.

Jazz music creates so many phenomenal figures.

What I really have in my head, my imagination, my understanding of music, I never really get that out.

Books are challenging and inspirational to me.

I failed first grade, which is my biggest problem. You always feel like a failure, like you're stupid.

I like to decide the night before Thanksgiving that I'm gonna do it, and I'll see what riff raff is around. Then I get that last-minute surge of energy. But if I had two weeks to plan, sometimes I wish I wasn't doing it. But very seldom does that happen.

People who shop in health food stores never look healthy.

There's humor in everything. There's gotta be humor in everything.

I like crafts that come out of poverty or necessity. There used to be hobby shops where you'd get your supplies, and then you'd use your imagination.

You think in a different way when you don't have any money. The joy of poverty is that you use your imagination to come up with stuff.

My father and I have a very good relationship. We always got along. But I always scold him.

I decided to study special education and fell in love with working with individuals with autism. That's what I planned to do with my life.

My mother taught me that we all have the power to achieve our dreams. What I lacked was the courage.

I did get a degree in special education.

We must investigate without fear or favour the so-called 'accounting irregularities' that cause turmoil in the markets and wipe billions off the investments of ordinary South Africans.

To get education to sink deep into the minds of a nation takes a generation and more.

Violence against women and children resembles an epidemic. It has spread through society, sparing no social group or class.

Tough decisions have to be made to close our fiscal gap, stabilise our debt, and restore our state-owned enterprises to health.

There are times when leadership needs to take a bold move forward. And there are times when the leadership needs to act on the basis of what the grass roots say. You need to have your political thermometer constantly in the political waters to know when to give leadership in what way.

We should put behind us the era of diminishing trust in public institutions and weakened confidence in our country's public leaders.

We should draw deep into Madiba's wisdom. We should draw deep into Madiba's style of doing things in an orderly manner, in a purposeful manner, in a way where we focus.

No man is born believing that he has dominion over women. Instead, this view is handed down from generation to generation and amplified through social custom, culture, and popular media.

During the worst days of apartheid, we turned to the church for hope and courage as we fought a righteous struggle for a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist, just, and prosperous South Africa.

Teachers need to be more inspirational. But it's also up to engineering to make itself more interesting.

I don't like being recognised, I have no interest in being famous at all, I just do what I do. If I could be like Captain Kirk and beam myself up and then beam myself down, I would!

Apart from death and taxes, the one thing that's certain in this life is that I'll never be a fashion icon.

The mystical poetry of William Blake's artwork also forms the basis for the album cover.

My dad always told me, 'I don't care what you do. Just aim to be the best at it. Even if it's the world's best window cleaner.'

The essential elements of giving are power and love - activity and affection - and the consciousness of the race testifies that in the high and appropriate exercise of these is a blessedness greater than any other.

By now, you've probably caught on to something: my mother is always standing by with just the right Scripture or inspirational saying to get me through any tough situation.

Always be courageous and strong, and don't fear.

You know, God has a plan for me, and I'm going to follow in his footsteps and just rejoice and be happy.

I give all the glory to God. It's kind of a win-win situation. The glory goes up to Him and the blessings fall down on me.

My mom says I'm a fighter, a fierce competitor, and I think I am, too.

I learned from my mom to always keep pushing yourself.

My mom used to tell me when I was little, 'When it rains, it's God's manifestation - a big day's waiting to happen.'

It's definitely important to have your mom and family there to back you up and cheering from the stands. You'd love them to come to every big dance and every big game, but sometimes that's not possible.

I think the end goal, hopefully, is to take advantage of the attention I've gotten along the way and use it for good and build some communities, and as I get older I can continue to do things and be surrounded by things that are inspirational to me.

As a child I was very into gadgets and machines and robots. The idea of experimenting with machines to create art was always something I tinkered with.

The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery other than in prisons - but it was a lie that you regained your freedom once you left the prison gates.

At the age of 46, in my sixth prison term, it was the second prison I was in - California Rehabilitation Center. The California Civil Education program kind of opened up all of the experiences that that I had dealt with in my life, that I had experienced.

A New Way of Life is a safe house that women can come to after they're released from prison in South Los Angeles. It's a place for women to detox the trauma, the torture of incarceration, be welcomed and embraced and live and begin their new path to - if it's recovery or receiving mental health services, go back to school, get their children back.

Many times, I left the prison thinking, 'I'm smart. I can make it. I won't get caught up again.' But you get off downtown Skid Row, and you're a target for all of the environmental harms in that area. The pain and trauma in that area is so thick, you can almost reach your hand out and touch it.