If it is true that only misfortune can awaken a man's soul, it is a bitter truth, one that is hard to hear and accept, and it is only natural that many people deny it and say it is better for a man to live on in a trance than to wake up to torture.

Truth doesn't always heal a wounded soul.

Talent I say is what an actor needs. And talent is faith in oneself, one's own powers.

What 'jazz' means to me is the worst kind of working conditions, the worst in cultural prejudice. The term 'jazz' has come to mean the abuse and exploitation of black musicians.

With his own money a person can live as he likes-a ruble that's your own is dearer than a brother.

This fear is what is the ruin of us all. And some dominate us; they take advantage of our fear and frighten us still more. Mark this: as long as people are afraid, they will rot like the birches in the marsh. We must grow bold; it is time!

All of us are pilgrims on this earth. I've even heard people say that the earth itself is a pilgrim in the heavens.