“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life.

So long as freedom from hunger is only half achieved, so long as two thirds of the nations have food deficits, no citizen, no nation can afford to be satisfied.

The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.

If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.

If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

Don’t ask ‘Why’, ask instead, ‘Why not’.

Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.

The only reason to give a speech is to change the world.

Justice delayed is democracy denied.

Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.

The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.

It is insane that two men, sitting on opposite sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilization.

Those who do nothing are inviting shame as well as violence. Those who act boldly are recognizing right as well as reality.

Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.

We need people who can dream of things that never were.

It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war.

Certain temperaments respond to anxiety by pulling inward.

Maybe [success] is because I’m in China and I’m more open. Maybe it’s my independent behavior, or because I participated in certain projects. I have no idea.

To call yourself a Chinese artist or woman artist or African artist reflects a certain kind of condition. To me, that is not necessary.

Being such a tomboy growing up, that was one thing that changed me as a person, as well. It broadened me, like me cracking myself open in a certain way.

If you resist confusion,you are always confused. We think that we resist certain states because they are there, but actually they are there because we resist them.

In a certain sense, if I have an idea about you that I believe, I’ve degraded you. I’ve made you into something very small. This is the way of human beings, this is what we do to each other.

They know deep down that certain things in their lives are working or aren’t working, that certain parts of their lives are functional and others are dysfunctional. But sometimes, as human beings, we don’t want to know what’s not convenient. So we pretend not to know.

At a certain point we need to grow up; we need to look inside ourselves for our inner guidance. There are things most human beings know; they just don’t want to know them.