Few, if any, survive their teens.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill, of things unknown, but longed for still, and his tune is heard on the distant hill, for the caged bird sings of freedom.

Life is going to give you just what you put in it. Put your whole heart in everything you do, and pray, then you can wait.

When things were very bad his soul just crawled behind his heart and curled up and went to sleep

At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice.

To be left alone on the tightrope of youthful unknowing is to experience the excruciating beauty of full freedom and the threat of eternal indecision.

I had given up some youth for knowledge, but my gain was more valuable than the loss

Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.

Language is man's way of communicating with his fellow man and it is language alone which separates him from the lower animals.

It may be enough, however, to have it said that we survive in exact relationship to the dedication of our poets (include preachers, musicians, and blues singers).

Emotion without reason lets people walk all over you

Chess is everything: art, science, and sport.

Adversity often hatches out the true nobility of character.

I like to break down barriers and I think that Hollywood is doing the same thing over and over. I want to do something new and say, "Let's evolve as artists!"

When a king creates an office, Providence creates immediately a fool to buy it.

I say, ‘You should blanket me’ or ‘you should blanket her’, meaning like a blanket is a blessing. It’s a way of showing love and caring.

Vegetables are something God invented to let women get even with their children.

I don't like bullies. No one has a right to take or to hurt just because they can.

I put my money in property and I love merchandise; such as Muhammad Ali boxing gloves. It's about stability for the future.

Leonard Pitts, Jr. is the most insightful and inspiring columnist of his generation.