It's that mind-heart connection that I believe compels us to not just be attentive to all the bright and dazzling things but also the dark and difficult things.

You ultimately judge the civility of a society not by how it treats the rich, the powerful, the protected and the highly esteemed, but by how it treats the poor, the disfavored and the disadvantaged.

We have a system of justice in [the US] that treats you much better if you're rich and guilty than if you're poor and innocent. Wealth, not culpability, shapes outcomes.

You don’t change the world with the ideas in your mind, but with the conviction in your heart.

Somebody has to stand when other people are sitting. Somebody has to speak when other people are quiet.

The opposite of poverty is not wealth. I don't believe that. I actually think, in too many places, the opposite of poverty is justice.

The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.

Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done.

We live in a country that talks about being the home of the brave and the land of the free, and we have the highest incarceration rate in the world.

I don't think there's been a time in American history with more innocent people in prison.

Always do the right thing even when the right thing is the hard thing

In order for someone to follow you, you must be true to heart and purpose. This is true in any relationship. Someone may follow you for awhile without it, but not a lifetime.

I look coolly in to the blue eyes of the person who is now my greatest opponent, the person who would keep me alive at his own expense. And I promise myself I will defeat his plan.

The happiness of the bee and the dolphin is to exist. For man it is to know that and to wonder at it.

I like things that are weirdly imaginative and couldn't be real, but I also like stories that are recognizable and relatable.

My administration inherited many problems across government and across the economy. To be honest, I inherited a mess.

Inkstands and tea-cups are never as full as when one upsets them.

Especially for this film [ 47 ronin] there's a nice mixture between western and eastern. So Ronin wearing the boots, like Western style. It's a nice mixture.

Love means giving something you don't have to someone who doesn't want it.

Criticizing reporters is like boo-ing at the Special Olympics.

Stealing, you'll go far in life. Actually, there is something funny about getting away with it.