You have to grab moments when they happen. I like to improvise and ad lib.

I've just directed a film called The Great Debaters, which is inspired by a true story about a young college debating team in the thirties and two of those people are still alive and we put them on tape on the film and I'm sure that will be added to the DVD, and to get the opportunity to do that is very cool.

We know what hair smells like when a hot comb hits it. That's a cultural thing. We know what that smells like on Sunday mornings, usually church-related or something. In my house, it was getting ready for church and your sister was getting her hair fried.

Goals on the road to achievement cannot be achieved without discipline and consistency.

I read the Bible every day.

[Black people] come into the world exactly like you. It's just that there are circumstances in the culture that are dictated and put on our lives that we have to fight against.

I love research and being educated. It's a great job being able to step into all kinds of professions and into other people's shoes.