I don't think that there has been a film that I've done that hasn't been influenced by libraries and archives.

History is malleable. A new cache of diaries can shed new light, and archeological evidence can challenge our popular assumptions.

We're having a hard time understanding where jazz is going. What happened to jazz?

The genius of our country is improvisation, and jazz reflects that. It's our great contribution to the arts.

It is the great arrogance of the present to forget the intelligence of the past

I think we too often make choices based on the safety of cynicism, and what we're lead to is a life not fully lived. Cynicism is fear, and it's worse than fear - it's an active disengagement.

Do not lose your enthusiasm. In its Greek etymology, the word enthusiasm means, "God in us."

History isn't really about the past - settling old scores. It's about defining the present and who we are.

People tend to forget that the word "history" contains the word "story".

By its very nature, no one person can ever be the center of Jazz.

I began to feel that the drama of the truth that is in the moment and in the past is richer and more interesting than the drama of Hollywood movies. So I began looking at documentary films.

The nights did not come gently but seemed to slam down angrily upon the Earth.

Gabby, I told you I'd give you space, but I never said I wouldn't fill your space with flowers. Brad

To make no mistake is not in the power of man but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.

What's in front of you is a whole world of experiences beyond your imagination. Put yourself, and your growth and development, first.

You know how people say they're either like a cat or a dog? I feel like a cat. I just want to be alone. Isn't that weird? It's a lot to take in.

The painter's appreciation for beauty is more conscious, for he spends his life trying to communicate his feelings to others.

I want to see more companies do profit-sharing. If you help create the profits, you should be able to share in them, not just the executives at the top.

The neurotic always wishes people would let him alone - until they do.

Never be put off by anything because failure teaches you something.

Typically I see it with photographers who go to a place like India or Nepal, and everything's so colorful and exotic and they think, therefore, a picture's been taken.