I am now completing research supported by NSF and NEH that is mapping changes in the English language through all of North America, for both mainstream and minority communities.

I have resisted the term sociolinguistics for many years, since it implies that there can be a successful linguistic theory or practice which is not social.

We focus upon pairs of words very often which are the same in some areas and different in other areas.

It appears that the present-day form of African American English is not the inheritance of the period of slavery, but the creation of the second half of the 20th century.

However, research in the years that followed found that in many of its important features, African American Vernacular English was becoming not less, but more different from other dialects.

Well, American dialects have been studied for a hundred years or so.

But unlike European countries, America has never finished a map of the United States, only the eastern United States is covered and a few spots here and there.

To some believers, being on the pill or using a condom is a nonverbal way of telling God to go to hell.

Wait a second, " Clary said."I never understand why people say that, " Luke said, to no one in particular. "I wasn't going anywhere.

Resiliency, like a cartwheel, requires core strength and a disregard for gravity. Only one of which can be willed.

If you know what to do to reach your goal, it's not a big enough goal." - Bob Proctor

I was hated, you know. I made no secret of the fact that I was an atheist. People told me there are no atheists in fox holes. That's nonsense. [interview promoting Marching as to War (2002)]

I'm probably the only bottom-heavy golfer in the country.

There has never been and never will be another you. You have a purpose - a very special gift that only you can bring to the world.

Everybody dies. There's nothing you can do about it. Whether you eat six almonds a day. Whether or not you believe in God.

Beauty is nothing but a promise of happiness.

Cherish [Science], venerate her, follow her methods faithfully ... and the future of this people will be greater than the past.