There is an indomitable quality within the human spirit that cannot be destroyed; a face deep within the human personality that is impregnable to all assaults.

Martyrs are needed to create incidents. Incidents are needed to create revolutions. Revolutions are needed to create progress.

Man cannot live without some knowledge of the purpose of life. If he can find no purpose in life he creates one in the inevitability of death.

American violence is public life, it's a public way of life, it became a form, a detective story form. So I should think that any number of black writers should go into the detective story form.

Democracy is not tolerance. Democracy is a prescribed way of life erected on the premise that all men are created equal.

I grew to manhood in the Ohio State Penitentiary.

The Harlem of my books was never meant to be real; I never called it real; I just wanted to take it away from the white man if only in my books.

Fair mindedness doesn't require a lot of thought, it requires a lot of bravery.

What is realized in the novel is the process of coming to know one's own language as it is perceived in someone else's language, coming to know one's own belief system in someone else's system.

I think you should be a child for as long as you can. I have been successful for 74 years being able to do that. Don't rush into adulthood, it isn't all that much fun.

The peril of this Nation is not in any foreign foe! We, the people, are its power, its peril, and its hope.

My great lesson from Auschwitz is: whoever wants to dehumanize any other must first be dehumanized himself. The oppressors are no longer really human, whatever uniform they wear.

If we want to be comforted, we must make up our minds to believe every single solitary word of comfort God has ever spoken.

When I get married, it will be for life - divorce is not an option.

Your hater is your future fan in a way. Cause when it's different they don't really take to it at first, but after you look back on it you get a chance to reflect on it.

I have made a vow to attain Enlightenment in the female form - no matter how many lifetimes it takes.