So I resort back to such ideology: we all have a calling. We all have an ultimate purpose. On that is laid before us by destiny or one that is positioned in the crosshairs of our long-term goals.

Was I a fool to believe in fate or in some destined illusionary path? I don't know. But we all need something to believe in.

I've never felt that the American Dream was owed to me. I never felt that I was entitled to this Dream. This is why I laid the cobblestone before me for this Dream to be achieved.

And to fight this beast of wrong is what I intend to do. To do otherwise is to sidestp this rabid injustice.

Gabby Giffords was a mentor of mine in the state Legislature and also in Congress.

A fierce and sentimental addiction to forms makes us shudder at change. It is much easier to say that the system is all right-only the people need to be improved.

Broken stories can be healed. Diseased stories can be replaced by healthy ones. We are free to change the stories by which we live.

When I'm onstage, I'm acting.

The most difficult step in the study of language is the first step.

The most important thing about recovery is to pass the message on.

The things that really change the world, according to Chaos theory, are the tiny things. A butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazonian jungle, and subsequently a storm ravages half of Europe.

I'm sorry that I did not become the world's first black classic pianist. I think I would have been happier.

I was particularly talking with respect to aid, because that to me is one area that can make people so dependent, and unfortunately, that dependency starts with the government.