My mother was a Northern woman, daughter of Hon. John Sergeant, a distinguished lawyer, and for many years representative in Congress from Philadelphia.

In such a condition of affairs, the practical difference between the abolitionist and the sympathizer, to the man who lost his slave and could not recover it, was very nebulous.

In those days, slavery was not looked upon, even in Quaker Philadelphia, with the shudder and abhorrence one feels towards it now.

John Brown was tried for treason, murder, and inciting slaves to insurrection.

I was a tried seaman when, for the first time, I set foot upon the soil of my country, and took up my residence where my people had lived for over two hundred years.

In the year 1857, passing through Washington on our return from the annual visit to Philadelphia, I had the distinguished honor of visiting a President for the first time.

However the Southern man may have been master of the negro, there were compensatory processes whereby certain negroes were masters of their masters' children.

In all her history, from the formation of the federal government until the hour of secession, no year stands out more prominently than the year 1858 as evidencing the national patriotism of Virginia.

The first American ancestor of our name was a younger son of these old Devonshire people, and came to the Virginia colony in the reign of Charles the First.

THE autumn of 1850 brought an event freighted with deep significance to me. My mother died.

As early as the autumn of 1862, I was made very happy by being sent to school.

An act of mastery is mastery itself.

Perfection doesn't exist here, AWESOME does.

A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.

Fashion is like life. It needs fear and uncertainty if you are to move forward.

A good quotation must be a complete entity. It must be like a headline - sharp, clear, whole.

[Meeting Mandela] was the highlight of my career; to meet such a great man and a strong man and such a passionate man about sport and life will always stay with me.

The transformation of Apple is probably the biggest tech story of the last 15 years.

...even the most horribl e of nightmares is laced with the promise of dawn.

You are not alone. You are seen. I am with you. You are not alone.

I wanted to make people think of a totally different way of living from that which we, educated people, live. I would absolutely not want anyone to find it beautiful or good without a thought.