For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo.

There's simply no philosophizing without a love of wisdom, absolutely.

And as a Christian, I got something the world didn't give me, the world can't take away, so I find joy that can never be reduced to anything.

Hatred of injustice is not the same thing as a love for everyday people.

You're trying to just leave the world a little better.

I wished the president [Barack Obama] were more "Martin Luther King-like."

I would say you have to fight in the life of the mind as well as fight in the streets, as well as fight in the courts, as well as fight in congress and the White House. Every site is a sight of contestation.