Once you really commence to see things, then you really commence to feel things.

Photography is a major force in explaining man to man.

I knew, of course, that trees and plants had roots, stems, bark, branches and foliage that reached up toward the light. But I was coming to realize that the real magician was light itself.

The use of the term art medium is, to say the least, misleading, for it is the artist that creates a work of art not the medium. It is the artist in photography that gives form to content by a distillation of ideas, thought, experience, insight and understanding.

A good daguerreotype was as perfect a kind of photograph as was ever made.

The mission of photography is to explain man to man and each to himself. And that is the most complicated thing on earth.

Every other artist begins with a blank canvas, a piece of paper the photographer begins with the finished product.

Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man.

Every ten years a man should give himself a good kick in the pants.

When that shutter clicks, anything else that can be done afterward is not worth consideration.

No photographer is as good as the simplest camera.

There is only one optimist. He has been here since man has been on this earth, and that is man himself. If we hadn't had such a magnificent optimism to carry us through all these things, we wouldn't be here. We have survived it on our optimism.

Once you really commence to see things, then you really commence to feel things.

When I first became interested in photography, I thought it was the whole cheese. My idea was to have it recognized as one of the fine arts. Today I don't give a hoot in hell about that. The mission of photography is to explain man to man and each man to himself.

A portrait is not made in the camera but on either side of it.

Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited and the wealth and confusion man has created.

Imagination decides everything.

I never learn anything talking. I only learn things when I ask questions.

It's almost therapeutic driving there and driving back (to North Carolina), with the time you get to think about things as well as create checklists.

The military people don't like it; the government probably doesn't like it, but the people should know what they're sending their young people into when they permit their governments to declare war and engage in war.

Recounting the strange is like telling one's dreams: one can communicate the events of a dream, but not the emotional content, the way that a dream can colour one's entire day.

We love being mentally strong, but we hate situations that allow us to put our mental strength to good use.

To me, reading a fashion magazine is the last thing I need to do. I've got books I need to read.

Being in love is the best thing in my life.

Half the time, I have trouble following our own pitcher's sequence.

Our siblings push buttons that cast us in roles we felt sure we had let go of long ago - the baby, the peacekeeper, the caretaker, the avoider...It doesn't seem to matter how much time has elapsed or how far we've traveled.

Humor is laughing at what you haven't got when you ought to have it.

Peace in Europe can only come through union in one economic system. The United States of Europe are overdue.

The best protection any woman can have, is courage.

One of the ironies of a conference dedicated to all things digital and virtual is that the best ways to connect with people are surprisingly old-school. Social media tools can improve the odds of a serendipitous encounter at SXSW, but old-fashioned hustle, palm-pressing and - above all - creativity go a long way.

Bob Newhart, who is my best friend, is one of the guys I adore.

What we should be doing is responsibly addressing the primary drivers of our debt and deficit issues.

I never thought of myself as unlucky. When you aim high, it's tough to get there unless something really fortunate happens.

It's very difficult to break into motion pictures, but it's oddly easier for directors today because of independent films and cable, who have inherited for the most part those films of substance that the studios are reluctant to finance.

One of the first members of Congress I met when I was first elected in 2008 was Barney Frank.

Collecting is my joy; it gives me great satisfaction.

This race is hotter than a Times Square Rolex.

When I first came down stairs, for two or three minutes I went down cellar to the water closet.

I don't follow golf! I don't keep up with golf or know who is coming or going. I am just here to play the game and be done with it.

When I work out, I wear two in-the-ear hearing aids for comfort, and then I wear the behind-the-ears for my day-to-day non-physical activities, when I need maximum hearing and to communicate with people and do interviews!