“I want to live for something. I don't want to live to get charity food to give me enough strength to go back to get more charity food.”

“Charity ain't giving people what you wants to give, it's giving people what they need to get.”

“When we want to help the poor, we usually offer them charity. Most often we use charity to avoid recognizing the problem and finding the solution for it. Charity becomes a way to shrug off our responsibility. But charity is no solution to poverty. Charity only perpetuates poverty by taking the initiative away from the poor. Charity allows us to go ahead with our own lives without worrying about the lives of the poor. Charity appeases our consciences.”

“I live my life you live yours. If you're clear about what u want then you can live anyway you please. I don't give a damn what people say. They can be reptile food for all I care.”

“When a client is driven to the utmost extremity, it is warmth and food and ease from pain he wants. Peace and justice come afterward. Rain symbolizes mercy and sunlight charity, but rain and sunlight are better than mercy and charity. Otherwise they would degrade the things they symbolize.”

“My hand stays out with the offered food long enough to make the moment awkward. "Don't you want it?" I ask."That depends on why you're giving it to me."I shrug. "Sometimes, as we're stumbling along in the dark, we hit something good.”