As we look forward to freedom the shining city on the hill and the best days of America lying ahead it is the men and women in uniform who protect defend and make us proud to whom we should look and give thanks every night.

I may be as bad as the worst but thank God I am as good as the best.

Best of all is it to preserve everything in a pure still heart and let there be for every pulse a thanksgiving and for every breath a song.

Our worldly successes cannot be guaranteed but our ability to achieve spiritual success is entirely up to us thanks to the grace of God. The best advice I know is to give is to give those worldly things your best but never your all - reserve the ultimate hope for the only one who can grant it.

'Thank you' is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude humility understanding.

I am as bad as the worst but thank God I am as good as the best.

You will also allow me to thank the Academy for inviting me to lecture in Stockholm for its hospitality and for the opportunity afforded me for admiring the charm of your people and the beauty of your country.

Thanks to capitalism the importance placed on beauty has never been so manipulated. We are the guinea pigs force-fed ads that tell us how pathetic we are: that we will never be loved happy or valuable unless we have the body the face the hair even the personality that will apparently be ours if only we buy their products.

Thankfully beauty is easier to remove than apply and a swipe of demaquillage in the right direction and you are you once again.

There is no racial or ethnic involvement in Thanksgiving and people who may be very distant from the Christian system can see the beauty and the positive spirit that comes from the holiday.