I think working with the primal elements of fire and earth appealed greatly to my father because of the almost magical results.

My father had been an avid fan of Chaplin during the silent film days, but when the talkies came along, my father lost all interest in movies.

I'm not going to run around uselessly spending money. It's a matter of choosing your charity. Some people choose themselves. For me, that is not enough.

Pablo Picasso was generous. But he always signed and dedicated his gifts even when he knew that people would sell them because they needed the money.

The evangelical Christian faith I'd grown up with sustained me. It demanded that I refuse the drugs and alcohol on offer in our southwestern Ohio town, that I treat my friends and family kindly, and that I work hard in school. Most of all, when times were toughest, it gave me reason to hope.

The Huxtables laughed and bonded and debated and lip-synced. They were glamorous and simple and extraordinarily human. And affluent. And educated. And so many different kinds of black. You'd think that all of that would make them the Howard University of African-American family life. But white people wanted to matriculate, too.

I believe in blood, soil, and honour; family, homeland, and hamingja; strength, traditions, and courage.

I know how I treat my friends and family and kids, and that's all I'm worried about.