Toulouse Street ran one way toward the Mississippi River. Jackson looked over [Imogene's] head into one of those famous New Orleans courtyards, full of lush foliage, mossy brick, secrets, and wonder.

He turned around to see the bass drum popping and the horn sections pointing their instruments to the balconies and sending glorious notes to the rooftops.

The only way he could truly stick out in New Orleans was if he were walking down the street on fire.

The morning sun in New Orleans felt like it was trying to make a point, convincing the old world to believe something new.

He sunk his head down, looking like a defeated giant out of some fairy tale.

Buddy ran down the road, turned into another street, and vanished as if he had never been there, like another ghost from New Orleans's past.

The carriage could only clop along at about ten miles per hour, which only accentuated Imogene’s excitement. She urged it onward: "Fly, horse, fly!

If you were born with the ability to change someone’s perspective or emotions, never waste that gift. It is one of the most powerful gifts God can give—the ability to influence.

Fish are small, but do not drown in the sea. Ships are big, but sink in the ocean.

Since Mozart's day composers have learned the art of making music throatily and palpitatingly sexual.

What controls your attention, controls your life

In my family, in the days prior to television, we liked to while away the evenings by making ourselves miserable, solely based on our ability to speak the language viciously.

My motto is that the audience should notice the actors, not the clothes.

The House of Lords must go - not be reformed, not be replaced, not be reborn in some nominated life-after-death patronage paradise, just closed down, abolished, finished.

Computer scientists stand on each other's feet.

I don't care who you love. If you love this country enough to risk your life for it, you shouldn't have to hide who you are.

The work of creation is never without travail.