I have never known anyone important enough to consume me in anger beyond a few hours. Better to depart their existence before they poison your own.

If you don't have anything to say, your photographs aren't going to say much.

I suffered first as a child from discrimination, poverty ... So I think it was a natural follow from that that I should use my camera to speak for people who are unable to speak for themselves.

Many times I wondered whether my achievement was worth the loneliness I experienced, but now I realize the price was small.

I've been asked if I think there will ever come a time when all people come together. I would like to think there will. All we can do is hope and dream and work toward that end. And that's what I've tried to do all my life.

The guy who takes a chance, who walks the line between the known and unknown, who is unafraid of failure, will succeed.

I had known poverty firsthand, but there I learned how to fight its evil - along with the evil of racism - with a camera.