Thought is more important than art....To revere art and have no understanding of the process that forces it into existence, is finally not even to understand what art is.

The artist's role is to raise the consciousness of the people. To make them understand life, the world and themselves more completely. That's how I see it. Otherwise, I don't know why you do it.

A man is either free or he is not. There cannot be any apprenticeship for freedom.

There is no justice in America, but it is the fight for justice that sustains you

The torture of being the unseen object, and the constantly observed subject.

My responsibility is to truth and beauty.

In America, black is a country.

I'd say I'm a revolutionary optimist. I believe that the good guys -the people- are going to win.

There is no depth to education without art.

All thinking people oppose terrorism both domestic & international but one should not be used to cover the other

When I die, the consciousness I carry I will to black people. May they pick me apart and take the useful parts, the sweet meat of my feelings. And leave the bitter bullshit rotten white parts alone.

There is no substitute for hard work, 23 or 24 hours a day. And there is no substitute for patience and acceptance.

The violence we do to ourselves in order to remain faithful to the one we love is hardly better than an act of infidelity.

I couldn't commit suicide if my life depended on it.

I know I've made huge gains in my confidence, and knowing more about my racing and myself as a person. That has made me a better athlete

Advances are made by those with at least a touch of irrational confidence in what they can do.

It's the very awfulness of [murder] that makes reading about it feel so cozy.

After Kidulthood, I was called in to a meeting and told that I didn't write women very well. I was very annoyed.

Prayer enters the pool of God's love and widens outward.

Know thyself' was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, 'Be thyself' shall be written.

Passion is a powerful force. Passion properly directed is unstoppable.