“If you destroy a free market you create a black market.”

I get my exercise being a pallbearer for those of my friends who believed in regular running and calisthenics.

If you’re going through hell, keep going.

Watch your actions, they become your habits.

Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have.

The true guide of life is to do what is right.

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.

History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.

You don’t make the poor richer by making the rich poorer.

If two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary.

Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

Your greatest fears are created by your imagination. Don’t give in to them.

However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.

Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about.

It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we must do what is required.

You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.

Seven out of 10 black faces you see on television are athletes. The black athlete carries the image of the black community. He carries the cross, in a way, until blacks make inroads in other dimensions.

Don’t judge me. You wanna judge me, put on a black gown and get a gavel. Get in line with the rest of them that’s about to judge me. I got court dates every other month. It’s me against the world – that’s how I feel.

Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.

If ever America undergoes great revolutions, they will be brought about by the presence of the black race on the soil of the United States – that is to say, they will owe their origin not to the equality but to the inequality of conditions.

My mom wanted to make sure I was prepared to grow up with Black skin in America.

I’ll tell you what’s at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.

I’m an athlete and I’m black, and a lot of black athletes go broke. I do not want to become a statistic, so maybe I overcompensate. But I’m paranoid. Oprah told me a long time ago, ‘You sign every check. Never let anyone sign any checks.’

I am the daughter of Black writers who are descended from Freedom Fighters who broke their chains and changed the world. They call me.