Alas! they had been friends in youth; but whispering tongues can poison truth.

Until you understand a writer's ignorance, presume yourself ignorant of his understanding.

Talent, lying in the understanding, is often inherited; genius, being the action of reason or imagination, rarely or never.

Language is the armory of the human mind, and at once contains the trophies of its past and the weapons of its future conquests.

You know, I think that President Obama is a person who has a great relationship with a number of people. Colin Powell does, too. I think Colin Powell is a fine American, a great leader and sees things in President Obama that he agrees with. He's entitled to have his opinion.

I'm not in the business of trying to be a celebrity. I like entertaining and being in movies. I like when people leave a movie and talk about it with friends. My biggest struggle is the press... its an odd thing and something I've had to learn a lot about.

I think if you have any desire to be a leading man or to really carry some of these stories, there's this relationship that has to be cultivated with an audience. People have to be able to say your name.

The relationship between violence and nonviolence in this country is interesting. The fact of the matter is, you know, people do respond to riots. The 1968 Housing Act was in large response to riots that broke out after Dr. Martin Luther King was killed. They cited these as an actual inspiration.