There are days when I literally have to eat 17 plates of food - it's intense. It's about moderation. You just need a few bites to get the gist of a dish.

I tell my students it's not difficult to identify with somebody like yourself somebody next door who looks like you. What's more difficult is to identify with someone you don't see who's very far away who's a different color who eats a different kind of food. When you begin to do that then literature is really performing its wonders.

Nothing drew me to the film business. I was propelled by the fear and anxiety of Vietnam. I had been drafted into the Marines. My brother was already serving in Vietnam. I bought if you will a stay of execution - both literally and figuratively - and went on to graduate school of business from the law school that I was attending.

There is nothing I fear more than waking up without a program that will help me bring a little happiness to those with no resources those who are poor illiterate and ridden with terminal disease.

We had such a wonderful set of circumstances in Wilmington. Yes the four of us became famous literally overnight but we were in a small town and we always knew when people were coming down. We always knew when to behave.

Maya Angelou the famous African American poet historian and civil rights activist who is hailed be many as one of the great voices of contemporary literature believes a struggle only makes a person stronger.

At last in 1611 was made under the auspices of King James the famous King James version and this is the great literary monument of the English language.

I literally was famous before I knew my own name.

The breakdown of the black community in order to maintain slavery began with the breakdown of the black family. Men and women were not legally allowed to get married because you couldn't have that kind of love. It might get in the way of the economics of slavery. Your children could be taken from you and literally sold down the river.

The only sensible ends of literature are first the pleasurable toil of writing second the gratification of one's family and friends and lastly the solid cash.