I was listening to all those lyrics and trying to take in everything that was happening. I was completely excited. It was one of the greatest times that I had listening to music.

My family was a Christian family. But I had to get to Kansas to play the blues.

It was my first time in Kansas City. In about two or three days I had a gig at a place called The Monroe Inn.

They said Bird played bebop, but Bird could still swing. I've heard a lot of guys play bebop, but they wasn't swinging.

I had listened to Joe Turner. When they'd book Joe there, I'd play the blues behind him.

There's nothing I can do to erase the shadow of misery and despair from the eyes looking back at me from the photos [that I took in Afghanistan].

If the student fails to learn the teacher fails to teach.

There can be no faith in government if our highest offices are excused from scrutiny - they should be setting the example of transparency.

We had a great many horses, of which we gave Lewis and Clark what they needed, and they gave us guns and tobacco in return.

If you want to understand what I'm thinking further, come talk to me. It shouldn't be something that should be hidden. These conversations need to happen and can bring everybody closer.

Somebody should clip Sting around the head and tell him to stop using that ridiculous Jamaican accent.

My God, it transformed me. My life changed.

Its so fascinating to think about how each snowflake is completely individual - there are millions and millions of them, but each one is so unique.

A stroke is a very difficult thing. You get depressed. . . . What I found was this: the cure for depression is to think of others, to do for others. You can always find something to be grateful for.

Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.