I live in an atmosphere of music.

Develop enough courage so that you can stand up for yourself and then stand up for somebody else.

I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.

The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind.

If somebody is really trying to take your head off with a baseball bat - I don't know how long you're supposed to stand there and turn the other cheek, so he or she can get a better angle at taking your head off.

When I forgive other people, I let them go, I free them from my ignorance. And as soon as I do, I feel lighter, brighter and better.

The black kids, the poor white kids, Spanish-speaking kids, and Asian kids in the US - in the face of everything to the contrary, they still bop and bump, shout and go to school somehow. Their optimism gives me hope.