I have reason to be shy. I've been hurt plenty.

Many people know how to criticize, but few know how to praise.

We are all gifted. That is our inheritance.

After years in white theaters I dreaded working in colored houses. The noise, the stomping, whistling, and cheering that hadn't annoyed me when I was young was now something I dreaded.

When you dominate other people's emotions, the time has to come when you will have to pay, and heavily, for that privilege.

The white audiences thought I was white, my features being what they are, and at every performance I'd have to take off my gloves to prove I was a spade.

My aunts lived on liquor and seldom felt like eating much. I don't know what's wrong about a kid stealing when he's hungry.