Running is real. It’s all joy and woe, hard as diamond. It makes you weary beyond comprehension, but it also makes you free.

I fought, I fought harder . . . but one cell at a time, panic crept into my body, taking me over.

Well, I couldn't play an instrument. I'd just stand up front and announce the numbers. They had me sing a little, but that was a horrible mistake. I can't carry a tune in a bucket. We played black theaters and nightclubs all over hell. One-nighters. Apollo Theater in Harlem and the Earle Theater in Philly - That was big time for blacks.

The only victory that counts is the one over yourself.

It dawned on me with blinding brightness. I realized: I had jumped into another rare kind of stratosphere - one that only a handful of people in every generation are lucky enough to know.

Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it and you'll start believing in it.

I decided I wasn't going to come down. I was going to fly. I was going to stay up in the air forever.