But in the end, we learn we can forgive most people. The cushion of mortality makes their wrongdoing seem less dark, and whatever roads they traveled seem less foolhardy.

America believes what's good for us is good for the world. It's very difficult to understand that that's not necessarily true.

I had seen the ballet of Swan Lake as a child but it was as an adult, when I saw a production featuring Erik Bruhn, that I first noticed how significant a part the ever-present threat of violence played. This juxtaposition of great beauty and grace with a backdrop of pure evil stayed with me for years.

I couldn't speak well. I went to speech therapy for 10 years. And I was sort of frustrated in that sense.

No matter what...ball made my heart beat faster, made me want to jump up and down and be Superman. That's what life was about anyway, being Superman and living like life itself was important. Basketball made my life important.

We all think we're different, but when it comes around, we end up needing the same things. Somebody to love us. Somebody to respect us.

You cannot live this life anymore without the ability to read.