Does he have a double standard for black critics as opposed to white critics?

There is a price to pay for speaking the truth. There is a bigger price for living a lie.

You can't lead the people if you don't love the people. You can't save the people if you don't serve the people.

Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public

Empathy is not simply a matter of trying to imagine what others are going through, but having the will to muster enough courage to do something about it. In a way, empathy is predicated upon hope.

Too many young folk have addiction to superficial things and not enough conviction for substantial things like justice, truth and love.

None of us alone can save the nation or the world. But each of us can make a positive difference if we commit ourselves to do so. (p. 109)

The greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of inspiration.

We have to recognise that there cannot be relationships unless there is commitment, unless there is loyalty, unless there is love, patience, persistence.

We are who we are because somebody loved us.

A fully functional multiracial society cannot be achieved without a sense of history and open, honest dialogue.

...there is more good in contentment, than there is in the thing that you would fain have to cure your discontent...

The good characters in my book are loosely based on folks I know. All the bad stuff is made up.

I jolt up, a scream lodged in my throat. Drops of sweat roll down my forehead and my throat hurts as if I've been screaming for a long time.

Human nature is complex. Even if we do have inclinations toward violence, we also have inclination to empathy, to cooperation, to self-control.

I have never seen a man as fond of virtue as of women.

The problem of life is not to make life easier, but to make men stronger.

Sometimes I even amaze myself, and sometimes I do things that make me want to punch myself in the face.

Throughout my life I have taken detours in acting and writing, but art remains my abiding passion.

Maybe, so Donald Trump didn't start the fire at this particular Chicago protest, but fanning the flames is a problem.

People with humility don't think less of themselves, they just think of themselves less.