The difference between that which is humane and that which is patriotic is a vital difference.

Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge.

One of the monstrous things that slavery in this country caused was the breakup of families. I mean, physical labor, horrible; beatings, horrible; lynching death, all of that, horrible. But the living life of a parent who, A, has no control over what happens to your children, none. They don't belong to you. You may not even nurse them. They may be shipped off somewhere, as in "Beloved" the mother was, to be nursed by somebody who was not able to work in the fields and was a wet nurse.

Please don't settle for happiness. It's not good enough. Of course you deserve it, but if that's all you have in mind - happiness - I want to suggest to you that personal success devoid of meaningfulness, free of a steady commitment to social justice - that's more than a barren life. It's a trivial one.

We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.

All paradises, all utopias are designed by who is not there, by the people who are not allowed in.

The isolation, the separateness, is always a part of any utopia.