“The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation.”

“Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work, and then they get elected and prove it.”

“Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions.”

“The Government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”

“I say to the grownups, ‘If you want to deny evolution and live in your world that’s completely inconsistent with everything we’ve observed in the universe that’s fine. But don’t make your kids do it.”

“Alone also means available for someone outstanding.”

“Did it occur to you that having been accepted to an art school actually means ‘you’ve got talent’ but that you will spend years finding out where it is?”

“The problem with the Tea Party is they’re all ignorant hillbillies who drink moonshine and ride around on mules. And they believe in stereotypes too.”

“You have a unique and amazing contribution to make to the world. Your job is to find both what it is and who needs it. Otherwise, you just have a really cool hobby and should probably just enjoy it on your own time and go marry into money.”

“Many Republicans in power cling to a level of ignorance that would get their ears boxed even in a medieval classroom. Congress incubates and insulates these knuckle-draggers.”

“No, you can’t deny women their basic rights and pretend it’s about your ‘religious freedom’. If you don’t like birth control, don’t use it. Religious freedom doesn’t mean you can force others to live by your own beliefs.”

“Don’t worry about the dumb. The dumb will take care of themselves.”

“The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.”

“The worst illiterate is the political illiterate. He hears nothing, sees nothing, takes no part in political life. He doesn’t seem to know that the cost of living, the price of beans, of flour, of rent, of medicines, all depend on political decisions. He even prides himself on his political ignorance, sticks out his chest and says he hates politics. He doesn’t know that from his political non-participation comes the prostitute, the abandoned child, the robber, and worst of all, corrupt officials, the lackeys of exploitative multinational corporations.”

“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

“No army can stop an idea whose time has come.”

“What we’re trying to accomplish today with the passage of this third stimulus package is to create jobs and help the unemployed. What we’re trying to accomplish is to pass the kinds of legislation, that when they’ve passed in the past, have grown the economy and gotten people back to work. In recessions unemployment lags on well after a recovery has taken place.”

“I broke something and realized I should break something once a week to remind me how fragile life is.”

“There’s no whining in politics.”

“If by a ‘Liberal’ they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a ‘Liberal,’ then I’m proud to say I’m a ‘Liberal.'”