It's dangerous, son.' 'What's dangerous?' 'When a man goes outside his house to look for peace.

A woman who is willing to be herself and pursue her own potential runs not so much the risk of loneliness, as the challenge of exposure to more interesting men - and people in general.

Though it be a thrilling and marvellous thing to be merely young and gifted in such times, it is doubly so - doubly dynamic - to be young, gifted and black.

One cannot live with sighted eyes and feeling heart and not know and read of the miseries which affect the world.

The thing that makes you exceptional, if you are at all, is inevitably that which must also make you lonely.

There is always something left to love. And if you haven't learned that, you ain't learned nothing.

Never be afraid to sit a while and think.

I care. I care about it all. It takes too much energy not to care.

Do I remain a revolutionary? Intellectually -- without a doubt. But am I prepared to give my body to the struggle or even my comforts? This is what I puzzle about.

This is one of the glories of man, the inventiveness of the human mind and the human spirit: whenever life doesn't seem to give an answer, we create one.

The grim possibility is that she who 'hides her brains' will, more than likely, end up with a mate who is only equal to a woman with 'hidden brains' or none at all.

You understand the logic behind the illogical, Alyssa. It's in your nature to find tranquility amid the madness. And that's what we're doing here. We are giving our food a fighting chance.

One problem I have definitely solved is the problem of not having enough to worry about.

She did not know the nature of her loneliness. The only words that named it were: This is not the world I expected.

...weary of k knowing too much and understanding too little.

If you can be a blessing to somebody else, you're sowing a seed for God to help you.

Pedigrees seldom improve by age; the grandson is too often a weak infringement on the grandsire's parent.

The role of a leader is not to rule over other people, but to hold a space for their own genius.

I never was attached to that great sect, Whose doctrine is that each one should select Out of the crowd a mistress or a friend, And all the rest, though fair and wise, commend, To cold oblivion.

The advocate of religious freedom is to expect neither peace nor forgiveness from [the clergy].

You have a whole life in the outdoors, you realize you have a sense of responsibility to protect these wild places.