“I just said let’s get some poets on tv. And when they said that sounded unlikely, I made it worse. I said, no man, I want to put a bunch of black poets on stage, too.”

Hollywood is full of very liberal people, but it still has an infrastructure that needs to be broken.

I don’t believe that people create their own visions. Rather, I believe that visions are actually God’s way of communicating with us.

Not every move you make has to be a great leap

The elected officials should be working for the voters who elected them. Money corrupts the process. Why would you be giving a candidate money unless you expect something in return?

The research shows that if you meditate, the mind becomes still, and they can see the functionality and gray matter in the brain increase, the nervous system calm, the immune system improve and a reduction in stress.

I think that diversity is key for the next American entrepreneurs. They want to be a part of this society where there is so much diversity they have to have people from all the experiences.

The world belongs to the people who say, ‘I can’.

Well, it’s the last step of the Civil Rights Movement: you know, wrap your hands around some money.

No matter where you’re from or what you’ve done, you’re never stuck in a particular circumstance, relationship, or cycle unless you say you are.

You have to be present, awake and happy now.

I think I’m less afraid of failure than some others.

No matter where you want to go, as long as you follow your path with faith, dedication and hard work, you are going to get there.

A poet or a comedian can say what’s on the mind of people. They should be funny. They should make you laugh. It may be so truthful that it hurts, but it makes you laugh.

I applaud what the Oscars are doing to promote diversity. I think it’s great.

Never pass up any opportunity to share your gifts with the world.

There’s something about the authenticity that Hollywood is missing when it comes to urban culture.

The English have only three sauces – a white one, a brown one and a yellow one, and none of them have any flavor whatever.

J.Lo’ in written English only has three letters, and you still spelled it ‘M-smiley face-pound sign.

Get off of the car,’ J.Lo huffed. ‘I am an English superstar.’ Uh-uh. There’s no comparison. ‘

English can be tricky because there are so many false cognates, but sometimes, as long the idea conveyed is not wrong, these false cognates can themselves offer synonyms or lead to a better alternative word or phrase in translation.

English was my favorite subject.

When I think about literature, I think about it in the three languages I read easily – English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

English offers both obscurity and dark or darkness, and some translators will tell you the Latinate word is generally reserved for poetic and figurative expressions, while the Germanic word is used for colloquial and idiomatic use.

That any troubles are simple misunderstandings, consequent on your not yet having spoken English loudly enough.