Sadly, I do my homework. I've a soft spot for the boring minutiae. I read the Charter of the United Nations before meeting with Kofi Annan. I read the Meltzer report, and then I'll read C. Fred Bergsten's defense of institutions like the World Bank and the I.M.F. It's embarrassing to admit.

Feelings are much stronger than thoughts. We are all led by instinct, and our intellect catches up later

To touch is to heal, to hurt is to steal, If you want to kiss the sky, better learn how to kneel. On your knees, boy...

Particularly conservative Christians, I was very angry that they were not involved more in the AIDS emergency.

For all that "I was lost, I am found," it is probably more accurate to say, "I was really lost, I'm a little less so at the moment.

Where you live in the world should not determine whether you live in the world.

It's a privilege to serve the poor, to be servants of noble Africans, but I better belong in the rehearsal room or in the studio with my band. That's where I want to be and I still wake up in the morning with melodies in my head.