There seems to be this sense among even well-meaning Americans that Africa is this black hole of murder and mutilation that can never be fixed, no matter what aid is brought in.

A few countries like Sri Lanka and Honduras have led the way in slashing maternal mortality.

The news media's silence, particularly television news, is reprehensible. If we knew as much about Darfur as we do about Michael Jackson, we might be able to stop these things from continuing.

We all might ask ourselves why we tune in to these more trivial matters and tune out when it comes to Darfur

The conflict in Darfur could escalate to where we're seeing 100,000 victims per month

There are other issues I have felt more emotionally connected to, like China, where I lived and worked for some time. I was living there when Tiananmen Square erupted

While Americans have heard of Darfur and think we should be doing more there, they aren't actually angry at the president about inaction

It really is quite remarkable that Darfur has become a household name. I am gratified that's the case.

The north of the Central African Republic is now a war zone, with rival armed bands burning villages, kidnapping children, robbing travelers and killing people with impunity.

The greatest threat to extremism isn't drones firing missiles, but girls reading books.

You will be judged in years to come by how you responded to genocide on your watch.

Humor is mankind's greatest blessing.

Your destiny is calling on you to surround yourself with people who see moving forward as the only option in life.

I want to be a good man, a good writer.""Be one or the other, Ernest, not both.

He looked as though I'd just run over his pet puppy (though no actual puppies were harmed in the formation of that metaphor).

Milan is showing a new and different face. At Porta Nuova, too, when they started construction, everyone was up in arms, saying Milan was going to lose its character.

Please don't ask me to do that which I've just said I'm not going to do, because you're burning up time. The meter is running through the sand on you, and I am now filibustering.

It's too late for preparation when opportunity strikes.

When a person is in fashion, all they do is right.

If I knew in 1986 how much it was going to cost to keep Pixar going, I doubt if I would have bought the company.

I think television is doing a better job than films in terms of representing people, but television is still not diverse.