“But the life of a Willa Cather, a Lillian Helman, and Virginia Woolf - - - would it not be a series of rapid ascents and probing descents into shades and meanings — into more people, ideas and conceptions? Would it not be in color, rather than black-and-white, or more gray? I think it would. And thus, I not being them, could try to be more like them: to listen, observe, and feel, and try to live more fully.”

“And I love the idea of books being more than books, or being, rather, something other than books. I think the ideal experience of my book would be like listening to music.And I love the idea of books being more than books, or being, rather, something other than books. I think the ideal experience of my book would be like listening to music.”

“His ideas about the future would not crystallize; the more he tried to think about it, the vaguer his conception if it became.”

“It is better to believe in men too rashly, and regret, than believe too meanly. Men could be more than they are, if they would try for it. He has shown them that.”

“For white people, nothing makes them appreciate the gift of life more than voluntarily trying to end it.”

“If I could die saving two lives, I would, provided each of those two people were the kind of people who would die to save two more like them.”