Surely the day will come when color means nothing more than the skin tone, when religion is seen uniquely as a way to speak one's soul; when birth places have the weight of a throw of the dice and all men are born free, when understanding breeds love and brotherhood.

The things we truly love stay with us always, locked in our hearts as long as life remains.

I spent 30 minutes each morning rubbing my body with half a lemon to lighten my skin.

The white imagination is sure something when it comes to blacks.

I love performing. I shall perform until the day I die.

My people have a country of their own to go to if they choose... Africa... but, this America belongs to them just as much as it does to any of the white race... in some ways even more so, because they gave the sweat of their brow and their blood in slavery so that many parts of America could become prosperous and recognized in the world.

You must get an education. You must go to school, and you must learn to protect yourself. And you must learn to protect yourself with the pen, and not the gun.