Writing is a delicious agony.

It frightens me to realize that, if I had died before the age of fifty, I would have died a 'Negro' fraction.

I felt that I had to write. Even if I had never been published, I knew that I would go on writing, enjoying it and experiencing the challenge.

I swear to keep the dead upon my mind, / Disdain for all time to be overglad.

Don't let anyone call you a minority if you're black or Hispanic or belong to some other ethnic group. You're not less than anybody else.

beware the easy griefs / that fool and fuel nothing.

One reason cats are happier than people is that they have no newspapers.