I've learned that the worst thing a parent can do is ignore their children

Certainly I'm angry at the way Indians have been treated and continue to be treated. But I don't think it's a helpless emotion.

He made me realize that hard work--that the act of finishing, of completing, of accomplishing a task--is joyous

We can all learn from every text. Reading the work that disgusts you can only strengthen your core beliefs. I could teach a semester-long course based only on reading the local telephone book. All stories can be taught in valuable ways.

There's this whole notion of being an Indian - the idea that "warrior" is a positive description of us [Indians as native Americans]. When an Indian guy does well, he's a warrior, even now. He could be a computer salesman, but if he does well, he's a warrior. I'm not a pacifist by any measure, but I'm also fully aware that the reasons I might go to war could be very dubious.

Nobody recognizes that a bookstore or library can also be a drowning polar bear. And in this country [US], magazines, newspapers, and bookstores are drowning polar bears. And if people can't see that or don't want to talk about it, I don't understand them at all.

And believe me, a good piece of chicken can make anybody believe in the existence of God.