People Quotes

To reduce the sum of our existence to a competitive struggle for advantage among more than two hundred nations is not clear-eyed but myopic. People and nations compete, but that is not all that they do.

The cat and mouse game is smart, but people want to see fighters who come to win, or do not wait to go to the judges. When the fight goes all the way, they see the spirit of the person that wants to win.

What people hate in you is what they missing in them.

There is giant untapped potential in disagreement, especially if the disagreement is between two or more thoughtful people.

I don’t think you can be too ashamed of anything as long as you were being yourself. I think why people feel, um, so entitled over me is that they’ve watched me grow up. But that’s a blessing and a curse.

When our founding fathers drafted the Constitution and Bill of Rights, black people weren’t even considered human.

In the silence of night I have often wished for just a few words of love from one man, rather than the applause of thousands of people.

You’ll know you’re amazing when you get devoted to making other people amazing.

See, I believe that it is not true that different races and nations are alike. I’m profoundly convinced that that’s a total lie. I think people are different. Sardinians, for example, have stubby little fingers. Bosnians have short necks.

A lot of the guys were like that – Oscar Pettiford – they just took me under their wing, and that’s why I automatically help young people. I just love it, because they did that for me.