You may be hurt if you love too much, but you will live in misery if you love too little.
If you don’t define yourself for yourself then you will be crushed into other's fantasies of you and eaten alive
African tradition deals with life as an experience to be lived. In many respects, it is much like the Eastern philosophies in that we see ourselves as a part of a life force; we are joined, for instance, to the air, to the earth. We are part of the whole-life process. We live in accordance with, in a kind of correspondence with the rest of the world as a whole. And therefore living becomes an experience, rather than a problem, no matter how bad or how painful it may be.
Oppression is as American as apple pie.
I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood. That the speaking profits me, beyond any other effect. . . . what I most regretted were my silences. Of what had I ever been afraid?. . . Death on the other hand, is the final silence. . . my silences had not protected me. Your silences will not protect you.
. . . my experience with people who tried to label me was that they usually did it to either dismiss me or use me.
. . . and that visibility which makes us most vulnerable is that which also is the source of our greatest strength.
There's been times when I've been in really tough shape at the top of the course. Talk about a hard challenge right there. I mean, if you ever tried to ski when you're wasted, it's not easy. Try and ski a slalom when … you hit a gate less than every one a second, so it's risky, you know. You're putting your life at risk there. It's like driving drunk only there's no rules about it in ski racing.
People must not think that all bad in man which is unleashed, the moment you impose censorship disappears from man.
There is a difference between the facts of a person and the truth of him.
and when he kissed me i didn't know what to do.