Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.

Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.

When my grandmother died, I realized that even if I had millions of dollars, I couldn't find her anywhere on earth. My next thought was that I would die. I looked at my life and thought, "I'm afraid to die." I concluded that whether I was afraid or not, I would die. It was one of the most important crossroads in my life, once I realized that no matter what, I would do this thing, the next step was to think, "If I am going to do the most difficult and frightening thing - dying - is it possible that I could do some difficult and impossible things that are good?"

We are not our brother’s keeper we are our brother and we are our sister. We must look past complexion and see community.

You can't forgive without loving. And I don't mean sentimentality. I don't mean mush. I mean having enough courage to stand up and say, 'I forgive. I'm finished with it.'

The public library building, in my view, is just a little lower than the church, the cathedral, the temple, the synagogue and the mosque. Within those walls and along those stacks, I have found security and assurance.

Nothing succeeds like success. Get a little success, and then just get a little more.