In too many communities, too many young men of color are left behind and seen only as objects of fear. Through initiatives like My Brother’s Keeper, I’m personally committed to changing both perception and reality.

No one would talk much in society if they knew how often they misunderstood others.

It takes a smart man to play dumb.

There’s a lack of people in power that are motivated by the idea of helping people.

I’m fascinated by the fact that we can’t grasp anything about time.

Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.

Stay active. Read the Word. Worship with other believers. Continue to give. Keep learning and growing. Your faith will be unleashed!

There is no unique picture of reality.

My childhood did not prepare me for the fact that the world is full of cruel and bitter things.

If time is not real, then the dividing line between this world and eternity, between suffering and bliss, between good and evil, is also an illusion.

God tells us not to judge one another, no matter what anyone’s sexual preferences are or if they’re black, brown or purple.

You might well remember that nothing can bring you success but yourself.

Truth is mighty and will prevail. There is nothing wrong with this, except that it ain’t so.

You can’t be in politics unless you can walk in a room and know in a minute who’s for you and who’s against you.

You’re just left with yourself all the time, whatever you do anyway. You’ve got to get down to your own God in your own temple. It’s all down to you, mate.

Around every corner, always protect the engine that powers you.

Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.

The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free.

There is no delight in owning anything unshared.

The events that I have attended to mark my Diamond Jubilee have been a humbling experience. It has touched me deeply to see so many thousands of families, neighbors and friends celebrating together in such a happy atmosphere.

With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.

Oh my God – this is scary and sad all at the same time. I literally dream about buying my own groceries. Swear to God. Because it is something that is real and normal.

We are not actually equal – humanity – if we are not allowed to freely love one another.

It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.

You say that you are my judge; I do not know if you are; but take good heed not to judge me ill, because you would put yourself in great peril.

The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it, and become blind to the arguments against it.

Engineering didn’t take to me. And what saved me and kept me in college was I ran into ROTC cadets who were in a fraternity called The Pershing Rifles. And I found my place. I found discipline. I found structure. I found people that were like me and I liked.

Lo! The poor Indian, whose untutored mind sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind.

Meaning and reality were not hidden somewhere behind things, they were in them, in all of them.

I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

Most of us are raised to believe we are ordinary. The anchor of the universe is present in every child. A parent only needs to guide and step aside and let them fulfill their dharma. Help children remember that they can do or be anything.

Wealthy men can’t live in an island that is encircled by poverty. We all breathe the same air. We must give a chance to everyone, at least a basic chance.

We will never see a day when women of means are not able to get a safe abortion in this country.

When you read, I’m sure you don’t realize that your eyes are going backwards and forwards and to this place and that place. Mine don’t do that.

People have told me, ‚You shouldn’t bring your daughter onto the podium, ‚cause it’s the workplace,‘ and things like that. But I’m not gonna really listen to that. I’m gonna do what I think is fun for me and my family, and everything’ll be all right.

A private soldier has as much right to justice as a major-general.

As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.

The narrow bandwidth of TV has made us think that we are stupider than we are.

God has entrusted me with myself.

Though she be but little, she is fierce.

We reached a high point in my opinion with the passage of the civil rights legislation and Martin Luther King’s success and the crusade of others. I think we kind of breathed a sigh of relief as if we had achieved the end of racial discrimination or white supremacy.

It is our duty as men and women to proceed as though the limits of our abilities do not exist.

It amazes me sometimes that even intelligent people will analyze a situation or make a judgement after only recognizing the standard or traditional structure of a piece.

Our intention creates our reality.

We see the world not as it is, but as we are.

In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself.

My moms always told me, ‚How long you gonna play the victim?‘ I can say I’m mad and I hate everything, but nothing really changes until I change myself.

Discrimination has a lot of layers that make it tough for minorities to get a leg up.

I don’t want you to apologize for being rich; I want you to acknowledge that in America, we all should have to pay our fair share.

People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude.

We should not underestimate ourselves, because if lots of individuals go together then we can accomplish almost anything.

I would like to see people more aware of where their food comes from. I would like to see small farmers empowered. I feed my daughter almost exclusively organic food.

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.

Nobody has ever convinced me that race is real.

Strike an average between what a woman thinks of her husband a month before she marries him and what she thinks of him a year afterward, and you will have the truth about him.

See things from the boy’s point of view.

Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him.

We need somebody who’s got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old – and that’s the criterion by which I’ll be selecting my judges.

The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community.

It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It is that they can’t see the problem.

As far as a glass ceiling, I feel that all you can do is give it your absolute best with whatever gifts the universe has given you. And if you make it in some way that other people can recognize, that’s fine. But even if you don’t quote-unquote make it, you’re fine if you’ve given it your whole heart and soul.