I'm not trying to top anything. I'm trying to be useful, to play a positive role, to serve the public interest.

There is no doubt that the issue of race is always present in American politics and in the politics of any multiracial society. There is also no doubt that for some people it is an element in the manifested hostility to Obama. But I don't think it is the major theme at all. Obama is right when he reminds people: By the way, I was black before the election.

I have always been fascinated with those who try to look over the horizon and see things that are coming at us.

To use a Southern euphemism, our space program has been snake-bit.

George Orwell once wrote that a false belief sooner or later collides with physical reality, usually on a battlefield.

Consider a clock thermostat, and set it so that you're not using energy when you don't need it, when you're out of your house.

I have absolutely no plans and no expectations of ever being a candidate again.