For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn't any other tale to tell, it's the only light we've got in all this darkness.

The interior life is a real life, and the intangible dreams of people have a tangible effect on the world.

Hatred destroys the person who hates.

But, when the chips are down, its better to be furious with someone you love, or frightened for someone you love, than be put through the merciless horror of being ashamed of someone you love.

To hold in the mind forever two ideas which seemed to be in opposition. The first . . . acceptance totally without rancor, of life as it is, and men as they are [;] . . . the second . . . that one must never, in one's life, accept . . . injustices as commonplace but must fight them with all one's strength.

Confusion is a luxury which only the very, very young can possibly afford and you are not that young anymore

American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.