African Americans

"Action led to action, free of any moorings, and the way to be someone, the way to catch the attention of the young and recruit them to one's cause, was to be enraged. It seemed as if the only way this lure of violence could be avoided was by having no causes, by being magnificently isolated from all loyalties. But was that not an ethical lapse graver than rage itself?"

"I became aware of just how fleeting the sense of happiness was, and how flimsy its basis: a warm restaurant after having come in from the rain, the smell of food and wine, interesting conversation, daylight falling weakly on the polished cherrywood of the tables.”"

"Hey, hey young guy, why trouble yourself? They'll take your money anyway, and they'll punish you by delaying your passport. Is that what you want? Aren't you more interested in getting your passport than trying to prove a point?"

"I have mentally rehearsed a reaction for a possible encounter with such corruption at the airport in Lagos. But to walk in off a New York street and face a brazen demand for a bribe: that is a shock I am ill-prepared for.”"

"I have taken into myself some of the assumptions of life in a Western democracy—certain ideas about legality, for instance, certain expectations of due process—and in that sense I have returned a stranger.”"

"Help us fight corruption. If any employee of the consulate asks for a bribe or tip, please, have a discreet word with the Consul General"

"I suddenly feel a vague pity for all those writers who have to ply their trade from sleepy American suburbs, writing divorce scenes symbolized by the very slow washing of dishes."

"while the buildings and roads of the capital city suggest a rational, orderly society, the reality is the opposite"

"Policemen routinely stop drivers of commercial vehicles at this spot to demand bribe"

"And so when I began to go on evening walks last fall, I found Morningside Heights an easy place from which to set out into the city."

"thousands of cars over the course of a day would pay toll at the informal rate, lining the pockets of the collectors and their superiors"

"the moment there is a power cut"

"Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, rises out of the Sahel like a modernist apparition. The avenues are clean and broad and the government buildings are imposing, with that soulless, vaguely fascistic air common to all capitals cities of the world…"

"And again, the empty space that was, I now saw and admitted, the obvious: the ruins of the World Trade Center. The place had become a metonym of its disaster."

"the hardest thing to deal with, after weeks of constant power cuts, is the noise of the generators"

"Precisely because everyone takes a shortcut, nothing works and, for this reason, the only way to get anything done is to take another shortcut.”"

"Church has become one of the biggest businesses in Nigeria… these Christians are militants, preaching a potent combination of a fear of hellfire and a love of financial prosperity…"

"Bad news spreads through any small town like fire through dry savanna bush."

"All the women seemed to be doing something – sweeping or carrying water in large bowls on their heads – but there was a good supply of men sitting languidly around doing nothing in the “life is boring” kind of way, not the “life is good."

"....would never do anything to hurt her."

"I understand what you mean, Inspector. I got up early this morning-I couldn't sleep anyway-and I went to Bedome to check. Everyone told me yes, that Gladys had been there yesterday and she had left some time before sunset to go back to Ketanu."

"…American sociologist George Yancey in his 2015 book “Hostile Environment” focused on American media bias against Christianity and conservative religion in general and found its roots in the fact that mainline U.S. journalism is a self-perpetuating caste. If you are an Evangelical Christian or do not agree with the prevailing liberal and secular ideology, particularly on moral matters, you will be thrown out of the first interview when you will try to be hired by one of the mainline media."

"Failure is not inevitable and success is not guaranteed. But if we don't try, we certainly will not succeed."

"I know people from all walks of life who were born into less-than-ideal situations but don't want to put in the work. Rather, they blame "the system," and they blame others for their status in life. Trust me, I know the professional playing field is not level, and every American should recognize that fact and work to correct the imbalance. But in my view, the best way to make things better is to work your way into a position of authority so you can assure fairness within your sphere of influence. My gruff grandfather once told me, "Life is not fair; get over it." Coleman Cox said, "I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have." I think both quotes are sound advice."

"In this tough and oftentimes unfriendly world we live in, I believe we should offer acts of kindness as often as we can. Over the years, I have owned five different 1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo vehicles. My first purchase was in 1975. For reasons I cannot explain, several years later I made the decision to trade that car in for a much smaller used compact car. That car was too small for our family and started to fail a few months after purchase. While driving the car home from work one day, the fan blade literally fell off the engine and the car came to an abrupt stop. There were no cell phones in those days, so I picked up the fan off the highway and stood by the car with no idea what to do next. Seemingly out of nowhere, a gentleman pulled his car up behind me, got out, and asked to look under my hood. As it turned out, my water pump was shot and apparently had not been properly installed. There was an auto parts store nearby, so the gentleman drove over to the store, purchased a new water pump, and reinstalled my fan blade, all on the side of the highway. When he completed his work, he suggested I consider purchasing another make and model car, and then went on his way. I thanked him profusely and only remembered later that I neither knew his name nor paid him for the new water pump. This act of kindness and compassion is something I will never forget."

"We live in an amazing country. America really is the greatest country on earth. Whether we are born to affluent parents who can provide every advantage in education and resources or reared in an inner-city or rural area with poor living conditions and substandard schools, in America, either can achieve their dreams of prosperity and success. That doesn't mean there will not be obstacles to overcome, but with persistence, hard work, and determination, in America we can in fact achieve anything."

"Service in the military is a way of life. Every day, the people you work with and for all have a common bond: we took a solemn oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. At its core, we swore to give our lives if necessary to defend the country. There is no higher calling."

"Are you willing to give up what you love, for who you love?"

"Girls only say I hate you to the guys that they love"

"Credit card used to be EBT, in the D though that's D-EBT"

"The task of providing moral direction to the highly complex socio-economic forces of our time must be addressed from within nations and across natural boundaries simultaneously. In its work of relief and development CRS wants to be an effective equal partner with local Churches in Central and South America and the Caribbean Region. Partnership here means attending scrupulously to the pastoral vision, practices and goals of the local church."

"[About affirmative action:] Don't dishonor my amazing achievement by chalking it up to favoritism. I resent it. I don't like it. I don't need it. I don't want it. That's not a political position. I'm defending my own dignity here."

"I might always be an economist at my core, but I don’t have to limit myself to graphs and equations. In fact, if I wanted to achieve the best of which I was capable, I couldn’t afford to limit myself. I’d have to read the big books and grapple with them. I needed … the best that had been written about culture and society throughout the ages."

"[Why he is willing to suffer consequences from detractors for his research:] I don't covet what they covet."

"One of my secret obsessions [...] is to force people to have civil discourse. I spend hours doing it."

"When the beer came Nick lifted and tilted the brown liquid in past the yellow foam. "Live fast, die young and have a good-looking corpse!" he said with a toss of his head. That was something he had picked up somewhere and he'd say it all the time now. Always with a cocky toss of his head."

"As long as male domination exists, rape will exist. [...] Rapists will not voluntarily stop raping women, but women revolting and men made conscious of their responsibility to fight sexism will collectively stop rape. Such women and men will stop all forms of exploitation and domination among themselves, and simultaneously attempt to stop others from exploiting and dominating anyone."

"So, they found another way to prosper with the limited opportunities presented to them"

"Access to the American dream was not an option in their community"

"You get to see that these beautiful boys did not come from a broken home. They came from a broken neighborhood"

"I think they will see that Lucille has always done everything she could for those she loves but this season she learns the importance of honoring herself"

"When you realize that every breath is a gift from God. When you realize how small you are, but how much he loved you. That he, Jesus, would die, the son of God .."

"It's a dream come true, it's amazing. It's really fun, everybody here is very sweet. I've made friends with the whole cast, it's amazing."

"I started off rapping when I was five and from rapping, I knew I always wanted to be in the entertainment industry."

"15 Aug 2022 — I am Queen of the most powerful nation in the world! And my entire family is gone! Have I not given everything?"

"The three things I said when I came out of school were I want to work consistently, I want to do good work and I want to be paid fairly, and that's happened"

"1.Don't settle for a life that is less than you deserve.2.Your dreams are worth pursuing, no matter how big they may seem."

"I was raised to have great parents, and I was raised to believe that I had power, as big or small as it was. It was there and it was to be utilized. That’s something that I want a lot of women to get the opportunity to feel."

"It takes a lot to become a champion. You need to be a killer. If you can't look over that net and see Public Enemy Number One, then you aren't going to be a champ.""

"I was lean, mean, and hungry."