The most difficult thing in the world, it seems to me, is to realize that I am a child of God; to keep that in my mind all the time.

All people in the world - who are not hermits or mutes - speak words. They speak different languages, but they speak words. They say, "How are you" or "I'm not feeling well" all over the world. These common words - these common elements that we have between us - the writer has to take some verbs and nouns and pronouns and adjectives and adverbs and arrange them in a way that sound fresh.

Laugh as much as you can.

The difference between charity and philanthropy is the distance of the soul... To be philanthropic is to give something, to be charitable is to give one's own heart.

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.

Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution.

The plague of racism is insidious, entering into our minds as smoothly and quietly and invisibly as floating airborne microbes enter into our bodies to find lifelong purchase in our bloodstreams.