“I’m proud to be an actor. See, as an actor, you live longer.”

I learned that from Muhammad Ali; I used to bodyguard him. He taught me about confidence. So when it comes to any job I work, I’m gonna do it good; I’m going to bring it over the top.

My mother never cursed at home; my father never cursed at home. My father didn’t drink. Even though we were poor, we would say a blessing over the table. So that’s who I am.

God is on my side, and that’s all I need. I get up in the morning.

Obama’s not Jesus. He can’t walk on water.

Visiting the hospital, visiting the kids with cancer, visiting the adults, and stuff like that. That’s what I do.

When I was nine years old, living on the south side of Chicago, my father was a minister and my mother used to scrub floors.

I am a tough guy.

To have a comeback, you have to have a setback.

If you look at my job, my union card, it says ‘actor.’ It don’t say nothing about celebrity, movie star, nothing like that, and that’s one thing that keeps me humble.

Gold was a gift to Jesus. If it’s good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me!

If people are cool, then they are not stressed. I pity the fool that don’t be cool.

I used to tell her some man gave me $10 to sweep out the yard. I was like Robin Hood. I took from the rich and gave to the poor. Me.

When I’m in the house of God, I don’t wear my jewelry, if you’re looking for my jewelry. All you see is my heart of gold.

And I say that to send a message to all the young thugs out there; that it’s nothing to be ashamed of to say you love your mother.

I hold the door for the ladies – I’m a gent.

Back in the day, I would wear up to 45 pounds of gold. It would take me four hours to get dressed!

The only way to experience it is to put the teachings into practice. Once you taste it, you are no longer in any doubt about its flavour and you do not have to ask anyone else. The problem is solved.

Living longer is about loving longer, learning longer, teaching longer, connecting longer.

You get an image after you act in a film, but it is not necessary that you last long because of that image.

The goal lies away from the sensual world. It is not a rejection of the sensual world, but understanding it so well that we no longer seek it as an end in itself.

Be mindful, be compassionate and nurture the circumstances that find you in this good time so it will last longer.

We no longer demand that sensory consciousness be anything other than an existing condition that we can use skillfully according to time and place.

Once the Fugitive Slave Act took effect, the Northern states were no longer safe for those who managed to escape from being enslaved.

So I think the longer you do stand-up, the more comfortable you are. You stop wanting to hide your foibles and instead want to show who you are.