We can't exempt ourselves from the same moral calculus that we are willing to apply to others.

Justice is what love sounds like when it speaks in public.

I don't worship the Bible, I worship the God who gave the Bible.

The writer's gift can make us see ourselves and our morals differently than our reality suggests.

He was not hip-hop's most gifted emcee. Still, Shakur may be the most influential and compelling rapper of them all, he was more than the sum of his artistic parts.

My ambition didn't grow out of nowhere. It was planted in me by a community that nurtured me.

Donald Trump amplifies the worst instincts. And his nationalism is really a white racist supremacist nationalism.

All of us should be much more humble and contrite when we point the finger at somebody else, because four more fingers are pointing back at us.

The language of faith is crucial because it affords human beings the privilege of intimacy with the ultimate.

I was very struck when Min. Farrakhan said if Jesus and Muhammad were here today, they'd be embracing each other. That's a tremendous message that needs to be heard more broadly.

I used to tell people when I preached at a church, 'If you want a great sermon, be a great audience.'

Self is for sacrifice and service.

Combine two words, Myth and History. What do you get? Mystery.

There is the sky, which is all men's together.

Every time I get up in the morning, melodies occur to me and I start trying to shape lyrics to melodies.

Feydeau's one rule of playwriting: Character A: My life is perfect as long as I don't see Character B. Knock Knock. Enter Character B.

I'm still yours, though. That won't ever change, Shadow Girl.

A good maxim allows you to have the last word without even starting a conversation.

The strangest part of being so well known is definitely getting a New Yorker profile. It's a wonderful, strange process, like seeing yourself through a distorting mirror.

Most of us do not even know how to ask a question. Most of us do not see the root of the word 'question' is 'quest'. Most of us don't have a quest in our life.

I wanted to do things to Richard that would make the sun grow cold with horror.