The determination to outwit one's situation means that one has no models, only object lessons.

Christianity has operated with an unmitigated arrogance and cruelty - necessarily, since a religion ordinarily imposes on those who have discovered the true faith the spiritual duty of liberating the infidels.

At bottom, to be colored means that one has been caught in some utterly unbelievable cosmic joke, a joke so hideous and in such bad taste that it defeats all categories and definitions.

Do I really want to be integrated into a burning house?

What passes for identity in America is a series of myths about one's heroic ancestors. It's astounding to me, for example, that so many people really seem to believe that the country was founded by a band of heroes who wanted to be free.

It is a very rare man who does not victimize the helpless.

The victim who is able to articulate the situation of the victim has ceased to be a victim: he or she has become a threat.