Self-respect is the root of discipline

We are closer to God when we are asking questions than when we think we have the answers.

Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.

Prayer cannot bring water to parched fields, or mend a broken bridge, or rebuild a ruined city; but prayer can water an arid soul, mend a broken heart, and rebuild a weakened will.

Remember that there is meaning beyond absurdity. Know that every deed counts, that every word is power...Above all, remember that you must build your life as if it were a work of art.

In any free society where terrible wrongs exist, some are guilty - all are responsible.

When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.

The opposite of good is not evil, the opposite of good is indifference.

Indifference to evil is more insidious than evil itself. It is a silent justification affording evil acceptability in society.

When I marched with Martin Luther King in Selma, I felt my legs were praying.

Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.

Nately had a bad start. He came from a good family.

My greatest blessings are my life, my children and my family.

It's a silence I know. The kind that's actually a sound so loud your brain doesn't know how to interpret it at first.

Men have to have heroes, but no man can ever be as big as the need, and so a legend grows around a grain of truth, like a pearl.

Every action (or inaction) involves a choice between what is more important and what is less important.

Someday I hope to write a book where the royalties will pay for the copies I give away.

Like pilgrims to th' appointed place we tend; The World's an Inn, and Death the journey's end.

You've got to work things out in the cloakroom, and when you've got them worked out, you can debate a little before you vote.

I never really considered acting as a career until I moved to New York.

My sons named her Bridget because that way they always had their sister, Bridget, with them. People thought we were nuts because on the phone they'd hear us say, "Bridget, sit!"