George Takei

"One of the gifts of 'Star Trek' is my professional work colleagues have become my lifelong friends."

"When I was a very young actor, I cruised around in a pretty cool vehicle called the Starship Enterprise."

"I do find things funny. When you see life through the eyes of someone with a good sense of humor, which my grandmother did, life is a human comedy."

"Humor is a powerful tool, and some of these politicians are so far out and easy to lampoon. They just provide such delicious opportunity."

"We have to remember that Putin was a member of the KGB. He has already demonstrated that kind of macho, dictatorial attitude. Russia has breached their pledge to uphold the Olympic charter. This is a great opportunity for the IOC to say we cannot, given the situation that exists currently, allow the Olympics to take place in Russia."

"My father once told me that American democracy is a people’s democracy at heart, and that it therefore can be as great as the American people, or as fallible. It depends on all of us. But our system is more fragile than we know. To sustain it, we must always cherish the ideals on which it was founded, remain vigilant against the dark forces that threaten it, and actively engage in the process of making it work."