My whole family could sing. My family harmonized without any instruments to accompany them.

Basically there is no difference between whites and blacks, browns and yellows. I decided to think no more of people as Northerners and Southerners.

Whenever I played Columbus, Ohio, I dropped in to see my close friend, a medium who had mysterious powers. Her Indian guide was Mohawk.

We are all gifted. That is our inheritance.

We never had a bathtub. Mom would bathe me in the wooden or tin washtub in the kitchen, or in a big lard can.

I am somebody cause God don't make no junk

Many people know how to criticize, but few know how to praise.

Only those who are being burned know what fire is like.

Today or any day that phone may ring and bring good news.

There was one emotional outlet my people always had when they had the blues. That was singing.

All the men in my life have been two things: an epic and an epidemic.

And despite the clamors and the violence, we tried to preserve in our hearts the memory of a happy sea, of a remembered hill, the smile of a beloved face.

It is the truth which is always the hardest to believe.

We do not actually know other people

I think the biggest problem is parents are so concerned with being friends with their kids. You're not their friend. You're their parent.

I could imagine myself becoming one of Marla's stories.

Death's an old joke, but each individual encounters it anew.

The benefit is competition, the thrill of playing in the Olympics, being an Olympian, playing against the best.

Jewish success is due to a culture that promotes excellence, blessed with self discipline, education, dedication and a quest for leaving this world a better place.

In America today you can murder land for private profit. You can leave the corpse for all to see, and nobody calls the cops.

I haven't told anyone this before, but when I was a teenager... I actually thought I was turning into a boy, and I didn't really care. It didn't bother me at all.