You can't say: This much love is worth this much misery. They're not opposites that cancel each other out; they're both true at the same time.

I cannot tell the truth about anything unless I confess being a student, growing and learning something new every day. The more I learn, the clearer my view of the world becomes.

You can't have relationships with other people until you give birth to yourself.

Success is its own reward, but failure is a great teacher too, and not to be feared.

The most fundamental truth to be told in any art form, as far as Blacks are concerned, is that America is killing us.

All poets, all writers are political. They either maintain the status quo, or they say, 'Something's wrong, let's change it for the better.'

No. Don't never go looking for love girl. Just wait. It'll come. Like the rain fallin' from the heaven, it'll come. Just don't never give up on love.

As you discover what strength you can draw from your community in this world from which it stands apart, look outward as well as inward. Build bridges instead of walls.

I do know one thing about me: I don't measure myself by others' expectations or let others define my worth.

Together we can face any challenges as deep as the ocean and as high as the sky.

Experience has taught me that you cannot value dreams according to the odds of their coming true. Their real value is in stirring within us the will to aspire.

Nothing good stands without the right attitude. You may know how to do it, but if the attitude is negative, all you can say is “I could have done it”.

Nothing goes perfectly for us. But... being incomplete is what pushes us onward to the next something... If we were even perfectly satisfied, what meaning would the rest of our lives hold, right?

A man is not completely born until he is dead.

Fate is written in the face.

Jail is no place for a young fellow. There's no advancement.

Look, isn't there any way you can just stamp me as not crazy and let me get outta here.

If you were to be lost in the river, Jonas, your memories would not be lost with you. Memories are forever.

Good taste has everything to do with being cultured and being refined, and if art has to do with anything, it has to do with being human.

Happiness comes when we stop complaining about the troubles we have and offer thanks for all the troubles we don't have.

Nobody knows anything.