It occurred to me that no matter where I lived, geography could not save me.

You must leave this world a better place than it would have been if you had not existed.

People leave when life becomes untenable where they are.

America is made up of people who came from someplace else. Even the Native Americans came over the Bering strait... America is what it is because people came from someplace else.

It was illegal for black people and white people to play checkers together in Birmingham. And there were even black and white Bibles to swear to tell the truth on in many parts of the South.

[The Great Migration] had such an effect on almost every aspect of our lives - from the music that we listen to to the politics of our country to the ways the cities even look and feel.

My parents absolutely did not think of themselves as part of the Great Migration. They knew they were part of a great wave. No one really talked about it in those terms or gave it a name.

From Louisiana, he followed the hyphens in the road that blurred together toward a faraway place, bridging unrelated things as hyphens do.

Appetite is the beast in man, compassion is his spirit.

Humans are not a commodity, nor is our humanity. Fight to save the lives of those who can not save themselves, and in turn, you will have saved your soul.

Hate is like acid. It can damage the vessel in which it is stored as well as destroy the object on which it is poured.

My life has been, I suppose, the most incredible series of highs and lows.

Play the shot you've got the best chance of playing well.

Writing is a consequence of having been 'haunted' by material. Why this is, no one knows.

When a Man is tried of London, he is tired of life.

Is love supposed to ruin you? It seems to me you shouldn't destroy yourself out of life for purposes of love--or what good is it?

What have we given? My friend, blood shaking my heart The awful daring of a moment's surrender Which an age of prudence can never retract By this, and this only, we have existed.

Seeing people who are actually reading your book and listening to the wide variety of reactions they have to it, is really special.