Be courageous, but not foolhardy. Walk proud as you are.

I think we have systematically and critically harmed ourselves and many young people by advising them not to try things.

To be left alone on the tightrope of youthful unknowing is to experience the excruciating beauty of full freedom and the threat of eternal indecision.

Let me tell so much truth. I want to tell the truth in my work. The truth will lead me to all.

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 great respect for the past.

I try to live what I consider a "poetic existence." That means I take responsibility for the air I breathe and the space I take up. I try to be immediate, to be totally present for all my work.