Access to knowledge is the superb, the supreme act of truly great civilizations. Of all the institutions that purport to do this, free libraries stand virtually alone in accomplishing this mission.

I have only to break into the tightness of a strawberry, and I see summer - its dust and lowering skies.

If you want to fly, you have to give up the things that weigh you down.

The function of freedom is to free someone else.

Don’t beg anybody for anything, especially love.

There is no such thing as race. None. There is just a human race - scientifically, anthropologically. Racism is a construct, a social construct... it has a social function, racism.

There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.

If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.

In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent.

All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.

Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge.

I am human and I need to be loved, just like everybody else does.

It doesn't make you a monster to want, she said, her voice very gentle. It's what you do with it that matters.

If we can accept the laws of the universe, the ebb and flow of joy and tragedy, then we have everything we need to embrace our true freedom.

…there was something about her that made you feel it was safe to tell her secrets.

Writing has often been accompanied by terror, silences, and then wild bursts of private laughter that suddenly make all the dread seem worthwhile.

Performing is one of the best feelings I know!

More than guided missiles, all the world needs guided men.

Success will always be measured by the extent to which we serve the buying public.

Raw garlic and a skin of the lemon - not only do they give you a beautiful face and skin but they also protect you from disease.

I honestly have no idea what's going on anymore. I just need to find something I can hit. (Shaun Mason)