I have nothing to do with racism in America; it was here when I got here.

A new broom can sweep the floor, but an old broom knows where the dirt is.

People don't want to hear the truth, they never do. They wanna live in some kind of fantasy. And then when they get caught up in it, they start being in denial because they don't want to be wrong.

We have a lot of black Anglo-Saxons. Their skin is black, but their brain is white. When I get real mad at them, I call them graham crackers.

If your hair is relaxed, white people are relaxed. If your hair is nappy, they're not happy.

People in America worship money, and a white man's face on a green piece of paper does not make me wealthy. My health makes me wealthy. I used to work at a hospital, so I know the real deal.

White people are very good at acting like they're not racist. They deserve an Academy Award for that.

Listen, we've got one little ol' black president, and white folks are upset, but they've had 43.

Handshaking means, 'I don't have a weapon.'

If you have money and you have fame, but you don't have any confidence in your blackness, then it's all for nothing.

You can't pick when you're touched. You can't pick the time. It just is. It's the reality. What it is, is. I can't change the past. I can only deal with the present and the future.

I don't have to look at your eyes to listen that's whatmy ears are for.

The great and unlooked for discoveries that have taken place of late years have all concurred to lead many men into the opinion that we were touching on a period big with the most important changes.

You know, Lincoln was funny. I don't think F.D.R. was very funny. But Lincoln was funny. Lincoln was really funny. But I think you should get elected first, and then show that you're funny.

The joy that isn't shared dies young.

The secret to enlightenment is kindness and selfless giving. Without that, it's just words, isn't it?

I can't - and won't - impose my beliefs on others, either verbally or otherwise. I'm not going to judge people.

The most original sin is not the thinker's but the poet's.

The man who says his wife can't take a joke, forgets that she took him.

The mystery is what prompted men to leave caves, to come out of the womb of nature.

Every thought and action of anyone affects everyone.