Our dehumanization of the Negro then is indivisible from our dehumanization of ourselves; the loss of our own identity is the price we pay for our annulment of his.

The hope of the world lies in what one demands, not of others, but of oneself.

Being in the pulpit, was like being in the theatre; I was behind the scenes and knew how the illusion worked.

Most of us are about as eager to change as we were to be born, and go through our changes in a similar state of shock.

Freaks are called freaks and are treated as they are treated – in the main, abominably – because they are human beings who cause to echo, deep within us, our most profound terrors and desires.

Passion is not friendly. It is arrogant, superbly contemptuous of all that is not itself, and, as they very definition of passion implies the impulse to freedom, it has a might intimidiating power. It contains a challenge. It contains an unspeakable hope.

Because I was raised in a Christian culture I never considered myself to be a totally free human being.