I subscribe to William Faulkner's' view that history is not just about what we were before but who we are now.

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.

Think back to the oldest era your mind can fathom, back beyond everything we can remember, when gods were still men who had not yet lived the deeds that would deify them.

I know much less about why God allows people to suffer than I know that He Himself is a suffering God.

It's easy finding reasons why other folks should be patient.

If you must push yourself beyond your limits, push yourself hard enough for success.

Nobody should try to play comedy unless they have a circus going on inside.

Sometimes, all you had to do was exist in order to be someone's saviour.

For me, running is a lifestyle and an art. I'm more interested in the magic of it than the mechanics.

I paint life as I would like it to be.

Some other natural rights... [have] not yet entered into any declaration of rights.