"I tire so of hearing people say, Let things take their course. Tomorrow is another day. I do not need my freedom when I'm dead. I cannot live on tomorrow's bread."

"My soul has grown deep like the rivers."

"I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins."

"I love the night, because it is dark and mysterious."

"I've been a dishwasher, a cook, a busboy, a waiter, a laundress, a delivery boy, a truck driver, a chauffeur, a gardener, a bellhop, a doorman, a houseman, a janitor, a porter, a longshoreman, a seama…"