"

Very early in life, it seemed to me that there was a relationship between the problems of the Negro people in America and the Jewish people in Russia,...more

"

Oh, God of Dust and Rainbows,Help us to seeThat without the dust the rainbowWould not be.

"

Jazz, to me, is one of the inherent expressions of Negro life in America: the eternal tom-tom beating in the Negro soul - the tom-tom of revolt agains...more

"

In all my life, I have never been free. I have never been able to do anything with freedom, except in the field of my writing.

"

Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.

"

So since I'm still here livin',I guess I will live on.I could've died for love--But for livin' I was born.

"

Life is for the living.Death is for the dead.Let life be like music. And death a note unsaid.