Laughter isn't even the other side of tears. It is tears turned inside out. Truly the suffering is great, here on earth. We blunder along, shredded by our mistakes, bludgeoned by our faults. Not having a clue where the dark path leads us. But on the whole, we stumble along bravely, don't you think?

Some colored people so scared of whitefolks they claim to love the cotton gin.

This could be our revolution: to love what is plentiful as much as what's scarce.

People do not wish to appear foolish; to avoid the appearance of foolishness, they are willing to remain actually fools.

Human compassion is equal to human cruelty, and it is up to each of us to tip the balance.

Women have to summon courage to fulfill dormant dreams.

We alone can devalue gold by not caring if it falls or rises in the marketplace. Wherever there is gold there is a chain, you know, and if your chain is gold so much the worse for you.