I cannot overemphasise the value we place on a free, independent and outspoken press

If the United States of America or Britain is having elections, they don't ask for observers from Africa or from Asia. But when we have elections, they want observers.

HIV/AIDS is the greatest danger we have faced for many, many centuries. HIV/AIDS is worse than a war. It is like a world war. Millions of people are dying from it.

If you are stimulated by what you do, you never get tired

The death sentence is a barbaric act . . . It is a reflection of the animal instinct still in human beings.

In countries where innocent people are dying, the leaders are following their blood rather than their brains.

When I closed THE GRAPES OF WRATH, I was a different man. It enriched my powers of thinking and discipline, and my relationships. I left prison more informed than when I went in. And the more informed you are, the less arrogant and aggressive you are.