If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America.

Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward.

Where globalization means, as it so often does, that the rich and powerful now have new means to further enrich and empower themselves at the cost of the poorer and weaker, we have a responsibility to protest in the name of universal freedom.

We can build a society grounded on friendship and our common humanity - a society founded on tolerance. That is the only road open to us.

You see, when there is danger, a good leader takes the front line. But when there is celebration, a good leader stays in the back room. If you want the cooperation of human beings around you, make them feel that they are important. And you do that by being humble.

Poetry cannot block a bullet or still a sjambok, but it can bear witness to brutality-thereby cultivating a flower in a graveyard.

If you make one gift this year, make it the gift of knowledge.