I am the American heartbreak- The rock on which Freedom Stumped its toe.

Americans of good-will, the nice decent church people, the well-meaning liberals, the good hearted souls who themselves wouldn't lynch anyone, must begin to realize that they have to be more than passively good-hearted, more than church goingly Christian, and much more than word-of-mouth in the liberalism.

I asked you, baby, If you understood- You told me that you didn't, But you thought you would.

I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes, but I laugh, and eat well, and grow strong.

I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.

Sometimes I wish the public were equally aware of the men of our race in the cultural fields. You, for instance, have you ever bought a book by a Negro writer?

Folks, I'm telling you, birthing is hard and dying is mean- so get yourself a little loving in between.