I hope to leave behind a few poems it will be hard to get rid of.
Thousands of animals (now billions) are butchered every day without a shadow of remorse. It cries vengeance upon all the human race.
There is only one heroism in the world: to see the world as it is, and to love it.
Most men are essentially dead by thirty.
There is no joy other than the joy of creating. There is no man who is truly alive other than one who is creating. All others are just shadows on the earth with nothing to do with being alive. The joy of living, whether it is love or action, is the joy of creating.
Be reverent before the dawning day. Do not think of what will be in a year, or in ten years. Think of to-day.
No one ever reads a book. He reads himself through books.
If you really want change, you really want it to be inclusive, where everyone's included, otherwise you're just going to have more of the same in the future.
In [Ralph] Ellison's case, it's more psychological than it is phenomenal, and it's conditioned by anger, animosity, and lack of desire to engage with the black body. There was always simultaneity that had nothing to do with visuality. You can be there and not be there at the same time and be fully visible all the time. That's what really struck me about Ellison.
A writer is first and foremost a witness of her time. She must tell the truth, not take a political position. But then the truth that she discovers is profoundly political.
I'd like to give you my heart, but since that might be inconvenient, I've brought you someone else's.