I was about 12 when I heard my first Lenny Bruce record. He was already dead. But it changed my life and really did change the world.
Fidel Castro had to sit there while he was given a speech on democracy, something the Cuban people have not been able to hear for 43 years.
Had Elijah Muhammad tried to introduce an orthodox form of Arab-oriented Islam, I doubt if he would have attracted 500 people, but he introduced a form of Islam that would communicate with the people he had to deal with. He was the king to those who had no king, and he was the messiah to those some people thought unworthy of a messiah.
My mother took great relish in introducing me as 'This is my son - he's a doctor but not the kind that helps people.'
Spike Lee gave me the greatest reaction to the fact that I was this athlete-meets-artist, because I think he saw that I was different. I learned that oftentimes, Spike directs in a sense that he might just stare at you and look at you in a telepathic way of communicating.
I really liked Kishore Kumar. He had a virile man's voice, and he was truly versatile.
There is a solid satisfaction in one's having and being conscious that he merits the good opinion of men of true discernment and real worth. But to have a name among the weak and the wicked is shame and reproach.
That's part of what always fascinated me about the Flash. Yes, he had superpowers, but he wasn't superhuman. He was vulnerable. He could be hurt or killed. He's not getting in a jet. He actually is the jet. So he had this gift, but with it came this risk. And I think that's what makes the character relatable.
Our people are ebbing away like a rapidly receding tide that will never return. The white man's God cannot love our people, or He would protect them.
Barack Obama is Occupy Wall Street. Barrack Obama is plugged into that world. That's what he believes.
I was obsessed with George Orwell for years. I remember going to the town library and having to put in interlibrary loan requests to get the compilation of his BBC radio pieces. I had to get everything he ever wrote.
I did a film on Muhammad Ali before he was champion. I was there when he became champion in 1964. I was happy to be able to document the development of a real American hero.
I've done three Broadway shows; once the curtain goes up, that's it. I mean, you prepare and you rehearse like crazy, but after opening night, the director's not there anymore, you know. He gives you notes during previews after each performance, but opening night, you're on your own.
I knew that everybody could be replaced. Nobody lasts forever. And if you work for somebody, he's certainly got the privilege and the right to fire you.
It's my privilege to work with an actor like Vikram who gets into the skin of the character he is playing, so much so that after the shoot it takes him quite some time to get back to his real self.
I married him because he told me it was the only way he could protect me. If we were just manager and client, my family could do whatever they wanted to get me back, but if I was his wife, they couldn't.
I like somebody who makes me laugh. He's also got to be prepared - I'm sort of a loose cannon, in a good way. I also like people who disagree with me and make me work to prove my point.
Hitchcock had a charm about him. He was very funny at times. He was incredibly brilliant in his field of suspense.
Trump is an outsider; maybe you don't know. So he is sitting in a room: he is talking business, he is talking politics - in a private room, it's a different persona. When he's out on the stage, he is talking about the kinds of things he's talking about himself; he's projecting an image that's for that purpose.
Tom Seaver was let loose twice by the Mets and pitched a no-hitter for the Reds and won his 300th game for the White Sox, but he wears a Mets cap in the Hall of Fame as homage to the 1969 championship.
I loved Fred Astaire's way of dancing. He led you into the dance.
I always tell people that to be the funny person in a Steve Martin movie is like getting a call that Keith Moon wants you to play drums on his record. He should be playing drums on his record.
My father valued patriotism above all other social obligations, but he had his own particular interpretation of just how true patriotism was meant to function.
I was a fan of football. I was more of a Raiders fan, but I knew who O.J. was. I knew The Juice, and I remember the Hertz commercials with him running to the airport and whatnot. So he was a highbrow celebrity in my eyes.
I speak to my agent about great roles, and he's like, 'They are all going to Will Smith.'
Crumb was such an influence on me. He's such a visionary, such a great artist, that he so shaped my artistic sensibilities on a certain level that I do owe everything to him. The way I see the world is largely changed by him.
Newt Gingrich is one of the brightest people in the Republican Party and he's always been a little unorthodox in his approach to politics, but that's what makes him Newt Gingrich.
I never got caught up in playing for history, seeing how many majors I could win, or rewriting the record books. Those are selfish objectives, and the guy who chokes usually does so because he dwells on what it all means to him. I was only worried about my family. And although I had my share of failures, it was never because I choked.
'Priced to sell' - just the phrase makes me smile. When a dealer says all the items in his booth are priced to sell, he means he's tagged them as aggressively as he can to get you to buy them. Don't worry, though, I still haggle. You have to. That's the point of a flea market.
Was Sen. Barack Obama a Muslim? Did he ever practice Islam? The presidential candidate officially rejects the claims, but the issue of Obama's personal faith has re-emerged amid conflicting accounts of his enrollment as a Muslim during elementary school in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Well, Babyface brings his savoir faire to every project. He's a very easy producer to work with, very detailed in listening to everything.
Working with Ice Cube was so tight. He's cool, and I really like how he does family stuff. My guy friends couldn't believe I was chillin' with him. Dudes love Ice Cube.
When a designer creates, he looks at the world around him.
Bruce Wayne is Batman. He became Batman the instant his parents were murdered. Batman needs Bruce, however hollow that identity feels to him from time to time. Bruce keeps Batman human.
Most people give Kennedy a passing grade, a good grade on the Cuban Missile Crisis handling, but what they don't realize, if he had had strength, if he had showed strength before, there would never have been a Cuban Missile Crisis.
I have admired David Bromley's work for years. He possesses such a wild and vivid imagination and really sees the beauty in everything.
