I care. I care about it all. It takes too much energy not to care.

A woman who is willing to be herself and pursue her own potential runs not so much the risk of loneliness, as the challenge of exposure to more interesting men - and people in general.

Though it be a thrilling and marvellous thing to be merely young and gifted in such times, it is doubly so - doubly dynamic - to be young, gifted and black.

One cannot live with sighted eyes and feeling heart and not know and read of the miseries which affect the world.

The thing that makes you exceptional, if you are at all, is inevitably that which must also make you lonely.

There is always something left to love. And if you haven't learned that, you ain't learned nothing.

Never be afraid to sit a while and think.

Do I remain a revolutionary? Intellectually -- without a doubt. But am I prepared to give my body to the struggle or even my comforts? This is what I puzzle about.

This is one of the glories of man, the inventiveness of the human mind and the human spirit: whenever life doesn't seem to give an answer, we create one.

The grim possibility is that she who 'hides her brains' will, more than likely, end up with a mate who is only equal to a woman with 'hidden brains' or none at all.

Seems like God don't see fit to give the black man nothing but dreams - but He did give us children to make them dreams seem worthwhile.

Savez-vous que c'est à cause de cette recherche de ce que j'appellerais les compensations, cette rechercher d'un bonheur malgré tout, que naissent les manies et, souvent, les déséquilibres.

He who rules by moral force is like the pole star, which remains in place while all the lesser stars do homage to it.

When I die, sprinkle my ashes over the 80's.

I fell in love at 14 and I remember that mad, tense feeling and all the mad things you do for the person - all those extremes and all the stuff you don't mind putting up with.

You don't disrupt genius at work.

When I was a kid, my nickname was Mr. Baseball. Because of the stitches.

There's truth in wine, and there may be some in gin and muddy beer; but whether it's truth worth my knowing, is another question.

Temptations, like misfortunes, are sent to test our moral strength.

Methinks sometimes I have no more wit than a Christian or an ordinary man has; but I am a great eater of beef, and I believe that does harm to my wit.

Life is a funny thing, the minute you think you've got everything figured out something comes along and turns it all upside down.