“I was always a dreamer, in childhood especially. People thought I was a little strange.”

“No one had ever told me that whites were supposed to sing one kind of music and blacks another - I sang what I liked in the only voice I had.”

“For most entertainers, there is a single experience, one defining moment, when confidence replaces the self-doubt that most of us wrestle with.”

“Performing is an experience, for me, that is as humbling as it is energizing.”

“I grew up not liking my father very much. I never saw him cry. But he must have. Everybody cries.”

“The time I spent thinking about how I was better than somebody else or worrying about somebody else's attitude was time I could put to better use.”

“Ex-slaves, in large part, shared a different economic vision. They were "always on the move," searching for family, denying their labor to "dishonest or oppressive employers," and asserting their i...”

“White folks have controlled New Orleans with money and guns, black folks have controlled it with magic and music, and although there has been a steady undercurrent of mutual admiration, an intermin...”

“But lets not forget the Jew. Anybody that gives even a just criticism of the Jew is instantly labeled anti-Semite. The Jew cries louder than anybody else if anybody criticizes him. You can tell the...”

“Want coffee?" I asked, as I headed that way."It's three thirty in the morning.""Okay. Want coffee?”

“I was always a dreamer, in childhood especially. People thought I was a little strange.”

“I am the least difficult of men. All I want is boundless love.”

“I'm your worst damn nightmare, Skeletor. I'm a vampire killer with fangs and a grudge.”

“One must be frank to be relevant.”