"I do not weep at the world—I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife."

"It is a common thing for a man to be in love with his wife when she is dead."

"Dat's what makes a man and woman. It's in de mind. It ain't in de body."

"Love is like the sea. It's a moving thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from the shore it meets, and it's different with every shore."

"I am a Negro — and I am proud of it."