The paradox of education is precisely this - that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.

It is very nearly impossible... to become an educated person in a country so distrustful of the independent mind.

The questions which one asks oneself begin, at least, to illuminate the world, and become one's key to the experience of others.

To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.

The primary distinction of the artist is that he must actively cultivate that state which most men, necessarily, must avoid; the state of being alone.

When one begins to live by habit and by quotation, one has begun to stop living.