I finally made up my mind that I would neither disclaim the black race nor claim the white race; but that I would change my name, raise a mustache, and let the world take me for what it would; that it was not necessary for me to go about with a label of inferiority pasted across my forehead.

The colored people of this country know and understand the white people better than the white people know and understand them.

Labor is the fabled magician's wand, the philosophers stone, and the cap of good fortune.

In the life of everyone there is a limited number of experiences which are not written upon the memory, but stamped there with a die; and in the long years after, they can be called up in detail, and every emotion that was stirred by them can be lived through anew; these are the tragedies of life.

Northern white people love the Negro in a sort of abstract way, as a race; through a sense of justice, charity, and philanthropy, they will liberally assist in his elevation.

It is from the blues that all that may be called American music derives it most distinctive characteristics.

...one of the best things about running is that no matter how fast you've run in the past, running fast in the future does not come easily or with any guarantees.