[At a young age] I had learned enough about women to know not to pressure them when they're thinking something out; they'll tell you when they're ready.

You can cuss out colonialism, imperialism, and all other kinds of ism, but it's hard for you to cuss that dollarism. When they drop those dollars on you, your soul goes.

To tell a woman not to talk too much was like telling Jesse James not to carry a gun, or a hen not to cackle.

America is a white man's country.

You can always chase a dream but it will not count if you never catch it.

I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading has opened to me. I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive.

The Chinese in this country aren't asking for integration.