I try to see every day as a celebration.

You can't really know where you are going until you know where you have been.

It is impossible to struggle for civil rights, equal rights for blacks, without including whites. Because equal rights, fair play, justice, are all like the air: we all have it, or none of us has it. That is the truth of it.

I have no modesty. Modesty is a learned affectation. It's like decal stuck up on a person.

That's the biggest gift I can give anybody: 'Wake up, be aware of who you are, what you're doing and what you can do to prevent yourself from becoming ill.'

I'm a positive thinker and actor. I look at a glass; a negative person sees the glass and says: too bad it's half empty... I look at the same glass and say: Hallelujah!! It's half full!!!

I encourage you to live with life. Be courageous, adventurous. Give us a tomorrow, more than we deserve.