I didn't think of myself as an outsider because of my race because... where I grew up I was the same race as almost everyone else... It is true that I noticed things that no one else seemed to notice. And I think only people who are outsiders do this.

Writing is not a profession. It's a calling. It's almost holy.

But no longer could I aks God what to do, since the answer, I was sure, would not suit me. I could do what suited me know, as long as I could pay for it. 'As long as I could pay for it.' That phrase soon became the tail that wagged my dog. If I had died then, it should have been my epigraph.

I suppose you could say I love outlaw American culture.

He must have smiled at me, though I don't really know, but I don't like to think that I would love someone who hadn't first smiled at me.

A piece of cloth that is called "linen" has more validity than calling you and me "black" or "negro." "Cotton" has more validity as cotton than yours and my being "black."

That was the moment he got the idea he possessed me in a certain way, and that was the moment I grew tired of him.