In the invincible and indescribable squalor of Harlem ... I was tormented. I felt caged, like an animal. I wanted to escape. I felt if I did not get out I would slowly strangle.

Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.

I can't believe what you say, because I see what you do.

Fires can't be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men. Enthusiasm in our daily work lightens effort and turns even labor into pleasant tasks.

Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.

The place in which I'll fit will not exist until I make it.

Trust life, and it will teach you, in joy and sorrow, all you need to know.

If the relationship of father to son could really be reduced to biology, the whole earth would blaze with the glory of fathers and sons.

You have to decide who you are and force the world to deal with you, not with its idea of you.

Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.

The American idea of racial progress is measured by how fast I become white.

If you are feeling constrained by a group that you belong to, ask yourself, “How can I participate in this community and still be who I am?

if an author would have us feel a strong degree of compassion, his characters must not be too perfect.

Where there is hunger, law is not regarded; and where law is not regarded, there will be hunger.

Commit yourself to something you have a passion for.

Is there a point of taxation wherein even a Democrat would acknowledge it is thievery by the government?

Sometimes I'm in the studio, sometimes I'm not. It's about delivering the music to the artist, but it's also about the inspiration.

The truth is, Pavlov's dog trained Pavlov to ring this bell just before the dog salivated.

People always complain about something. If you face yourself and stand up strong, you're OK. You can't go wrong.

People will protect what they love.

If I liked an idea, even slightly, I would throw some money at it. I've had a lot of random things not work out that people don't know about.