“What's that you mutter to yourself, Matthew Maule?" asked Scicpio. "And what for do you look so black at me?""No matter, darky," said the carpenter. "Do you think nobody is to look black but yourself?”

“He looks up and the loss in his Noise is so great it feels like I'm standing on the edge of an abyss, that I'm about to fall down into him, into blackness so empty and lonely there'd never be a way out."Todd," I say again, a catch in my voice. "On the ledge, under the waterfall, do you remember what you said to me? Do you remember what you said to save me?"He's shaking his head slowly. "I've done terrible things, Viola. Terrible things-""We all fall, you said." I'm gripping his hand now. "We all fall but that's not what matters. What matters is picking yourself up again.”

“Excuse me, but what kinda black lady are you?" I smiled, looked at her, and said, "The kinda black lady that you wanna know.”

“Whenever you're unsure of yourself, whenever you're in doubt, ask yourself three questions. What do you believe in? What do you hope for? but most important, ask yourself, what do you love?”

“I asked her if I was black or white. She replied "You are a human being. Educate yourself or you'll be a nobody!”

“It didn't matter what you looked like. It was how you carried yourself, how you saw yourself.”