Oprah is more than an institution. Oprah is a very special star in the firmament. I can't imagine a greater success than she's enjoyed.

Science may have come a long way, but as far as religion is concerned, we are first cousins to the !Kung tribesmen of the Kalahari Desert. Except for the garments, their deep religious trances might just as well be happening at a revival meeting or in the congregation of a fundamentalist TV preacher.... As we move further from the life of ignorance and superstition in which religion has its roots, we seem to need it more and more.... Why has religion become a force just when we'd have thought it would be losing ground to secularism?

I was proud of the waves I had made, but wondered how many boats I was supposed to rock.

I have had time to analyze my feelings. I am certain that they are totally neurotic, sexist, silly, and a big waste of time.

There is no democracy without dissent.

I could never understand how we could put 120,000 Japanese behind a fence in World War II. I remember being bewildered about that.

I certainly think we have an emergency in media, and we gotta fix it.