"Supreme serenity still remains the Ideal of great Art. The shapes and transitory forms of life are but stages toward this Ideal, which Christ's religion illuminates with His divine light."

"Life is only a long and bitter suicide, and faith alone can transform this suicide into a sacrifice."

"Real men are sadly lacking in this world, for when they are put to the test they prove worthless."

"Mournful and yet grand is the destiny of the artist."

"The ocean of adversity cannot drown the spirit that resolves to stay afloat. This remains the cornerstone of personal mastery."

"You can say I had a severe case of 'Roots' envy. I wanted to be like Alex Haley, and I wanted to be able to... do my family tree back to the slave ship and then reverse the Middle Passage, as I like to put it, and find the tribe or ethnic group that I was from in Africa."

"Retaliation is related to nature and instinct, not to law. Law, by definition, cannot obey the same rules as nature."

"It is a subtle truth that do not hurry what nature takes seasons to unfold — an essential principle for the reflective life."