I came from an intellectual family. Most were doctors, preachers, teachers, businessmen. My grandfather was a small businessman. His father was an abolitionist doctor, and his father was an immigrant from Germany.

I fought for peace in the fifties.

The key to the future of the world is finding the optimistic stories and letting them be known.

But if by some freak of history communism had caught up with this country, I would have been one of the first people thrown in jail.

I came along and was a teenager in the Depression, and nobody had jobs. So I went out hitchhiking, when I met a man named Woody Guthrie. He was the single biggest part of my education.

I believe that my choosing my present course I do no dishonor to them, or to those who may come after me.

I tell kids, don't trust the media. The media with their emphasis on fame is helping to destroy this country, helping destroy the human race. It's the plug-in drug.