The word maybe was beginning to annoy me, because the only thing that was fixed was that maybe would be with me forever.

Not a beauty queen. Not one of those. You know the ones. She was real.

It is early, early morning. It's that time when it's still dark but you know the day is coming. Blue is bleeding through black. Stars are dying.

My own eyes try to sleep, but they don't. They stay wide awake as time snarls forward and silence drops down, like measured thought.

Because you don't learn anything unless you can find the patience to read. TV takes that away from you. It robs you from your mind.

The pages and the words are my world, spread out before your eyes and for your hand to touch. Vaguely, I can see you face looking down into me, as I look back. Do you see my eyes?

A couple of them were school beauty-queen pretty while a few were that more real-looking type. A realer kind of pretty.

All four of us were young and undaunted and our smiles were so strong that it made me smile even then on the couch, with a kind of loss.

... tried praying for him ...but I couldn't. I just couldn't. Don't ask me why. I hoped that he was okay, but I couldn't summon the strength to pray for it.

The city was dark except for the building lights that seemed to appear like sores - like bandaids had been ripped off to expose the city's skin.

I wanted nothing for free.Nothing came for free at our place anyway.

A teacher can kindle your mind and let you memorize information, but true education is often self-education.

Invest in books that will help you become the person you were born to be and do what you should do.

There are no perfect people - except of course my wife's first husband.

Beneficence is always free, it cannot be extorted by force.

I'm not the best of you, but I'm not the worst either.

Obvious to you is amazing to others.

Black people must address itself to the causes of poverty. That's oppression in this country.

In my view, Arafat is the only Palestinian in the world that isn't willing to have an independent Palestinian state.

I play as many different things - piano, sax and harp parts - as I can at once. Whatever I can fit, whenever I need to.

It wasn't about mechanics; it was about a feeling, wanting to give someone something, which in turn was really gratifying. That really resonated for me.