“Remember, too, that all who succeed in life get off to a bad start, and pass through many heartbreaking struggles before they "arrive." The turning point in the lives of those who succeed, usually comes at the moment of some crisis, through which they are introduced to their "other selves.” 

“But this argument is found to be defective when examined in its effects and consequences.”

“A senator once confided to me that the greatest need in Washington was the elimination of the cocktail party. He said: “It consumes so much of our time that we don’t have time for matters of state.”

“And he has to live like this on the edge of destruction, alone, with nobody at all to understand or pity him”

“They, they, they. That was the problem with people like Joyce. They talked about the richness of their multicultural heritage and it sounded real good, until you noticed that they avoided black people. It wasn't a matter of conscious choice, necessarily, just a matter of gravitational pull, the way integration always worked, a one-way street. The minority assimilated into the dominant culture, not the other way around. Only white culture could be neutral and objective. Only white culture could be nonracial, willing to adopt the occasional exotic into its ranks. Only white culture had individuals. And we, the half-breeds and the college-degreed, take a survey of the situation and think to ourselves, Why should we get lumped in with the losers if we don't want to? We become only so grateful to lose ourselves in the crowd, America's happy, faceless marketplace; and we're never so outraged as when a cabbie drives past us or the woman in the elevator clutches her purse, not so much because we're bothered by the fact that such indignities are what less fortunate coloreds have to put up with every single day of their lives-- although that's what we tell ourselves-- but because we're wearing a Brooks Brothers suit and speak impeccable English and yet have somehow been mistaken for an ordinary nigger. Don't know who I am? I'm an individual!”

“Too few Christians realize the importance of the Word of God in prayer. We know that faith begins where the will of God is known. And we know that God’s Word is His will. So find scriptures that definitely promise the things you are asking for. If the Scriptures don’t promise you the things you are desiring, you don’t have any business praying for those things. And you shouldn’t want anything that the Word of God says you shouldn’t have. Many believers are trying to pray beyond their faith. But it’s the Word that gives you faith.” 

“I set out on this ground, which I suppose to be self-evident, that the earth belongs in usufruct to the living.”

“Bitterness has not the capacity to make the distinction between some and all. When some members of the dominant group, particularly those in power, are racist in attitude and practice, bitterness accuses the whole group.”

“Everyone else believes in you. The major problem is that not all can let you know as in the way you may wish. Some will only let you know through their tests of criticism!”

“I got to the top the hard way—fighting my own laziness and ignorance every step of the way.”

“Knowing your purpose motivates your life.”

“If you pay that price daily by planning and preparing and working to become the right kind of person, then you can legitimately expect to have all that life has to offer.”

“The focus on self has led our society into a fascination with pleasure, emotional and sexual stimulation, and “personal fulfillment.” America’s compulsion for “maximum personhood” is evidenced everywhere.”

“My principal sin is doubt. I doubt everything, and am in doubt most of the time.”

“Where there is love, there is life”