I have a lot of optimism about new doctors because I think it's really clear that it's a lot of hard work and no guarantee of a lot of money.

People who are sick, or who have been sick, or have come close to death have a lot to say - and they want you to hear it.

Suddenly in high school, I'm in a predominantly Jewish atmosphere. Jewish people were my gate to white America.

Poverty makes it very difficult in an already competitive world for kids to get on a straight track where they can actually love learning.

President Obama called for a 'we' nation in his Inauguration Address. Art convenes. It is not just inspirational. It is aspirational. It pricks the walls of our compartmentalized minds, opens our hearts and makes us brave. And that's what we need most in our country today.

I mean, I think a healthy country is a country where people are healthy physically, and a smart country is a country where people are educated.

Hope is when you look out the window and you go, 'It doesn't look good at all, but I'm going to go beyond what I see to give people visions of what could be.'