As we talked of freedom and justice one day for all, we sat down to steaks. I am eating misery, I thought, as I took the first bite. And spit it out.

What a burden to think one is conceived in sin rather than in pleasure; that one is born into evil rather than into joy.

It is healthier, in any case, to write for the adults one's children will become than for the children one's 'mature' critics often are.

For a long time, I thought I was ugly and disfigured. This made me shy and timid, and I often reacted to insults that were not intended.

I am an elder, and I am delighted to be an elder. I would like to exhibit [and] explore it more - what an elder could mean in this time. But, I'd like to show that elders are good for us - that they can be good for us.

The artist...is the voice of the people.

I think America has always been polarized... It's a racist country and it has always been.