I write songs very quickly, so the 20 minutes of joy I get out of writing a song doesn't compare to the two months of joy I get engaging with the people who like my music.
Thank God for books as an alternative to conversation.
Civilizations should be measured by the degree of diversity attained and the degree of unity retained.
We would rather be ruined than changed. We would rather die in our dread than climb the cross of the moment and let our illusions die.
My deepest feeling about politicians is that they are dangerous lunatics to be avoided when possible and carefully humored; people, above all, to whom one must never tell the truth.
We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know.
All that we are not stares back at what we are.
There is so much joy in native culture but so much poverty. It's very disturbing.
The question of religion in black America is something filmmakers don't want to touch.
It's funny: half my films were flops, half did well. It would be terrible if I'd had only success.
Who is the wisest man? He who neither knows or wishes for anything else than what happens.