“There is no quick fix. At the end of the day, you still have to do the work to maintain your weight. It can’t be a diet. You have to change your life.”

You can’t name an institution that doesn’t depend on volunteers.

In our society leaving baby with Daddy is just one step above leaving the kids to be raised by wolves or apes.

If somehow every volunteer vanished tomorrow, so much of this country would come to a standstill: schools, hospitals and libraries.

When Courtney’s mother and I first separated I tried to be Disney Dad, showering her with gifts, trips and then I snapped out of it.

To me, there is no difference between ‘natural’ and ‘adopted.’ .

In the pregnancy process I have come to realize how much of the burden is on the female partner. She’s got a construction zone going on in her belly.

I was just thrilled to get the gig to begin with. Ten years later to still have it is not only thrilling but also somewhat of a puzzlement.

I have been blessed with working with the best in the business.

I was the oldest of six, and three of my siblings were adopted.

Watching the scenes out of New Orleans, if you turn down the sound it could be the Sudan or any Third World country. But it’s not. it’s the United States of America.

Mom and Dad even took in foster children. ‘There are no limits to how much you can love,’ Dad always said.

If I was having a bad day, eating was like self-medicating. But if you abuse food, you still have to use that substance that you abuse every day.

My first college roommate greeted me with a shocked silence followed by, ‘So. . .you’re black.

I don’t make plans, because life is short and unpredictable – much like the weather!

You don’t have to try to impress your kids. If they’re not getting what they need from you, they will let you know.

We already had an adopted daughter, 10-year-old Courtney, from my previous marriage.

I learned what my weaknesses were and I went out the next day to turn those weaknesses intro strengths.

Good women tell all their lives, and by day and by hour and by minute, such things that angels can read.

I’m from there. You know, when you grow up with these people and see them every day and then you look at the numbers… it was easy; it was a no-brainer. And when Sony took a look, it was a no-brainer to them, too.

Every free day, every weekend, I am in a recording session. I’m very lucky to have such supportive people around me.

A house cannot be made habitable in a day; and, after all, how few days go to make up a century.

It was such a beautiful day I decided to stay in bed.

A bad hair day for me is when it gets flat and greasy.

The everyday practice is simply to develop a complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions and to all people, experiencing everything totally without mental reservations and blockages, so that one never withdraws or centralizes into oneself.