I think having a vision can make someone an influential man. I'm not talking about acting or anything like that I'm talking about people I admire whether it's a writer or a musician or a sports figure or a politician whatever.

There are kids who get on a BMX bike when they're eight years old and they go 'Whoa this is incredible ' and grow up to do extreme sports. It's the same for me with acting.

As athletes we're used to reacting quickly. Here it's 'come stop come stop.' There's a lot of downtime. That's the toughest part of the day.

I've always thought of acting as a tool to change society. I watch a lot of actors and I see panic in their eyes because they don't know why they act and I know why I act. Whether I'm a good or a bad actor I know why I do it.

The only thing of value I have in this life is my ability to tell a story whether in print orating writing it down or having people acting it out. That's why I'm always hoping society never collapses because the first ones to go will be entertainers.

Acting the arts in general is a magnet for the wounded of society.

When I got out of acting school I was lucky to have gotten any job at all. A lot of people hiring African American actresses - it was right after 'Roots ' and for society not me it was great. Nice richly dark-skinned people was the fashion and I was not.

Acting is a sense of wonder and magic and mystery for me and when life takes me on a new journey I simply remember the smile my first ballet recital put on my face and I move forward.

Science is not a heartless pursuit of objective information. It is a creative human activity its geniuses acting more as artists than as information processors.

It always makes me sad when I think of how I saw Wagner wasting his vitality not only by singing their parts to some of his artists but acting out the smallest details and of how few they were who were responsive to his wishes.