It was the law that if a white man was caught trying to educate a Negro slave, he was liable to prosecution entailing a fine of fifty dollars and a jail sentence. . . Our ignorance was the greatest hold the South had on us. We knew we could run away, but what then?

Editors never buy manuscripts that are left on the closet shelf at home.

History does not always repeat itself. Sometimes it just yells, 'Can't you remember anything I told you?' and lets fly with a club.

That's the trouble with languages. They have to be learned.

Never accept the initial premise of the opposition.

Too darned good a machine can be a menace, not a help.

Write me a creature that thinks as well as a man or better than a man, but not like a man.