Wynton Marsalis Quotes

My daddy expected that my brothers and I and our generation would make the world a better place. He had lived in an America of continual social progress.

I'm ready for a different America.

I'm still thinking and hoping there's an opportunity for people to have better lives and that significant change can occur.

The best road to progress is freedom's road.

If you scratch below the surface and ask what really makes me tick, it's the liberalism of trying to promote freedom and opportunity. Promoting social mobility is one of the keys to that.

A liberal knows that the only certainty in this life is change but believes that the change can be directed toward a constructive end.

Anyone who thinks they're a progressive should be interested in making progress.

We're going to make America a better place.

Now, being one who lived in the era of Obama, there are so many markers of improvement made. It's hard to be mindful of that, in the same way you're going, 'Oh everything's cool now!' and it isn't. But I try to be mindful of how much of an improvement there has been because that gives hope. You need hope. I need hope!

We must stop looking to the past and focus on ensuring everyone has a stake in the future.

I love that America represents a beacon of hope and opportunity in a world of uncertainty.

I always look at things half full and definitely see a change in how things are going as far as black actresses and their opportunities.

We're not going back anywhere, we're going forward, we're going forward in democracy, we're going forward in participation, we're going forward with ideas.

I have never wavered from my intention to advance the cause of diversity in new and more effective ways.

The necessary transformation of which I speak and of which my presidency will be a part is built on turning creative possibilities into live realities for all our people.

In the coming year, I believe we can make sure America lives up to its legacy as a land of opportunity if the President is willing to back up his rhetoric with substance.

A renewed commitment to the freedom and opportunity of our people is the touchstone of our time. In this new century, where tests are many and challenges change with the shifting of the wind, we must hold fast to the principles that have made our nation the envy of the world.

America has believed that in differentiation, not in uniformity, lies the path of progress. It acted on this belief; it has advanced human happiness, and it has prospered.

You can't propel a nation to move forward if all you are doing is taking something from them.

Our decade of change has unleashed the ingenuity, creativity, and character of the most extraordinary people in the world - the people of this state, who come from every corner of the globe.

Gay marriage will be universally accepted in time. But if I may be so bold as to say to gays and lesbians, don't wait for that time to arrive. Just as my father and his generation did not 'wait' for their civil rights, nor should you. The toothpaste ain't going back in the tube. The tide has turned.

Progress is a choice. Job creation is a choice. Whether we give our children a future of more or a future of less - this, too, is a choice.

I don't really care how or why Obama got to the right place on gay marriage. I'm just glad he got there.

Obama sees himself as such a huge change that he can be cautious about other societal changes. But what he doesn't realize is that legalizing gay marriage is like electing a black president. Before you do it, it seems inconceivable. Once it's done, you can't remember what all the fuss was about.

We must work to help all families and all communities realize their dream of a better future.