Another belief of mine; that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise.

I don’t think you ever really know what all you’re doing, so you have to act on faith.

If you will do what God tells you to do, there’s no person on Earth and no devil in Hell that can keep you from having what God wants you to have.

Men do not accept their prophets and slay them, but they love their martyrs and worship those whom they have tortured to death.

I don’t believe in personal immortality; the only way I expect to have some version of such a thing is through my books.

I believe in the battle-whether it’s the battle of a campaign or the battle of this office, which is a continuing battle.

That all men are equal is a proposition to which, at ordinary times, no sane human being has ever given his assent.

I have already demonstrated, by crucial tests, the practicability of signaling by my system from one to any other point of the globe, no matter how remote, and I shall soon convert the disbelievers.

I don’t believe in death, neither in flesh nor in spirit.

To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.

Man is not born to atheism. He is born to believe.

I think women want freedom. They want to be empowered. They want hope. They want love; they want all the things that I want, and I’m not afraid to say those things and act on them, and I think that’s why they identify with me.

I used to say to my late wife, ‚I have great faith in the American people.‘

It doesn’t matter where you come from, what you have or don’t have, what you lack, or what you have too much of. But all you need to have is faith in God, an undying passion for what you do and what you choose to do in this life, and a relentless drive and the will to do whatever it takes to be successful in whatever you put your mind to.

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.

We are not what we are, nor do we treat or esteem each other for such, but for what we are capable of being.

I would never say I was an icon, but so many people have said I am, so I suppose I am. I mean, I can’t not be what everyone says I am. But I don’t feel like an icon.

America is not nearly done. We’re only in the beginning. Who knows who we will be? Who knows… what color we will be? It is all something that, maybe, our descendants – if they survive that long – will see.

I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.

Our existence is beyond our explanation, whether we believe in God or we have religion or we’re atheist. Our existence is beyond our understanding. No one has an answer.

I am a strong believer that without justice, there is no peace. No lasting peace, anyway.

My son’s full real name is Duncan Zowie Haywood. As a toddler, he was called by his second name Zowie. But it was such an identifiable name during the Seventies that if I called him loudly in public places, everyone would turn to stare, so I started calling him Joey to take the pressure off.

I guess it’s flattering that everyone believed I was those characters, but it also is dehumanizing.

The people respect and believe in men who fulfill their duty.

It’s different from being 21 and you think there’s endless amount of opportunities. At 33, the ending is much, much closer.

What is normal? Normal was yesterday. If you lose a leg, one day you’re hopping around on one leg, so you know the difference.

I’ve never been an intellectual but I have this look.

The most effective prayers are usually the simple prayers.

I don’t believe in the after life, although I am bringing a change of underwear.

Being is. Being is in-itself. Being is what it is.

I really do feel part of America to my very bones; at the same time, I know that I come from somewhere else.

God not only plays dice, He also sometimes throws the dice where they cannot be seen.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.

I just dress like… I’m an old black man. Sorry! Like I’m an old Jewish black man. I just dress like it’s still the ’50s.

Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.

If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.

We think when God speaks to us, there’s going to be a boom out of Heaven or we’re going to get some chill bumps, but I really believe God’s talking to us all the time. He’s talking to us right in here. I call it our heart, our conscience, but it’s the Holy Spirit talking to us.

My upbringing in Canada made me the person I am. I will always be proud to be a Canadian.

In my work and in myself I reflect black people, women and men, as I reflect others. One day even the most self-protective ones will look into the mirror I provide and not be afraid.

When you’re around the kids, you feel like you act the most grown up just because you’re supposed to lead. I say things, like every other parent, that reminds you of your own parents. One thing I do know about being a parent, you understand why your father was in a bad mood a lot.

I haven’t changed at all. I’m the same as when I was 11.

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.

One is still what one is going to cease to be and already what one is going to become. One lives one’s death, one dies one’s life.

Everyone looks at your watch and it represents who you are, your values and your personal style.

Faith is permitting ourselves to be seized by the things we do not see.

I don’t want to look sloppy, because then I feel sloppy.

I’m very proud to be black, but black is not all I am. That’s my cultural historical background, my genetic makeup, but it’s not all of who I am nor is it the basis from which I answer every question.

I certainly respect the belief of the Hobby Lobby owners. On the other hand, they have no constitutional right to foist that belief on the hundreds and hundreds of women who work for them who don’t share that belief.

The little man is still a man.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m as famous for my wheelchair and disabilities as I am for my discoveries.

Do I think faith will be an important part of being a good president? Yes, I do.

Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there’s a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.

We are all worms. But I believe that I am a glow-worm.

The person we believe ourselves to be will always act in a manner consistent with our self-image.

I’m trying to make God more relevant in our society.

I say something, and then it usually happens. Maybe not on schedule, but it usually happens.

How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone.

We are never defeated unless we give up on God.

I think that somehow, we learn who we really are and then live with that decision.

I think I’ve committed the one really bad English crime, which is I’ve risen above my station. I was supposed to be a pop star, and suddenly I’m claiming that I’m an artist of some kind.