Nobody: I was then taken east, in a cage. I was taken to Toronto. Then Philadelphia. And then to New York. And each time I arrived at another city, somehow the white men had moved all their people there ahead of me. Each new city contained the same w...
Edna: You need a new suit, that much is certain. Bob: A new suit? Well, where the heck am I gonna get a new suit? Edna: You can't! It's impossible! I'm far too busy, so ask me now before I can become sane. Bob: Wait? You want to make me a suit? Edna:...
Ellen Brody: You see the kids? Brody: [looking out the window] They must be in the back yard. Ellen Brody: In Amity, you say "yahd". Brody: [starting out of the bedroom, speaking with a bad New-England accent] They're in the "yahd", not too "fah" fro...
Ratso Rizzo: Woman starts crying, I'd cut my heart out for her. Jackie - New York: [passing by] That's a great idea. In fact, you just sit tight and I'll cut it out with my fingernail file, Ratso. Ratso Rizzo: The name's Rizzo. Jackie - New York: Tha...
Marie: Restaurants are to people in the 80's what theatres were to people in the 60's. I read that in a magazine. Jess: I wrote that. Marie: Get out of here. Jess: I did, I wrote that. Marie: Where did I read that? Jess: New York magazine Harry: Sall...
When I got my very first phone call that I'd hit the 'New York Times' list, I had a small rush of 'I've made it!' But the next morning, it occurred to me I didn't know what it was, so I called my agent and asked what being a 'New York Times' bestsell...
He [Edward Snowden] has been careful with his info, doling it out to responsible news organizations — The Post, the New York Times, the Guardian, etc. — and not tossing it up in the air, WikiLeaks style, and echoing the silly mantra “Informatio...
Superorganism. A biologist coined that word for our great African ant colonies, claiming that consciousness and intelligence resided not in the individual ant but in the collective ant mind. The trail of red taillights stretching to the horizon as da...
The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creation. Not to make people with better morals but to create a community of prophets and ...
When it comes to current attitudes about surgery, the practice of dismissing the cultural context and rationalizing it as individual betterment "flattens the terrain of power relations." In other words, we can talk about doing it for us until our hig...
His words were almost soundless. "I've gotten to a really dark place, Melly. The darkest place I've ever been." "You don't have to be there anymore," she told him gently. "Don't you know what happens at the darkest point of the day?" He stroked her s...
Coming back last time to the house she grew up in, Isabel had been reminded of the darkness that had descended with her brothers' deaths, how loss had leaked all over her mother's life like a stain. As a fourteen-year-old, Isabel had searched the dic...
What kept you distant from me?” she asked. By now, she had regained enough confidence to start a discussion. “Fear,” he replied. “What kind of fear?” “Fear of facing people’s objections. Fear of putting both of our lives at risk. Fear o...
When God introduced man to the angels, Satan became the first racist. Satan belonged to a race of beings called angels, man to a new race of beings called humans. In Satan’s mind, angels, particularly he himself, were far greater than mankind simpl...
That thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you is usually what you need to find, and finding it is a matter of getting lost. The word ‘lost’ comes from the old Norse ‘los’ meaning the disbanding of an army…I worry now that people ...
I wouldn’t say “art” as much as “virtue,” in the ancient Greek sense of “andreia” – manly action – or “arete,” excellence. In my experience, Resistance kicks in any time we try to move ourselves from a lower plane to a higher. I...
Miss Taylor says kids that are colored can't go to my school cause they're not smart enough." I come round the counter then. Lift her chin up and smooth back her funny-looking hair. "You think I'm dumb?" "No," she whispers hard, like she means it so ...
Were we to confront our creaturehood squarely, how would we propose to educate? The answer, I think is implied in the root of the word education, educe, which means "to draw out." What needs to be drawn out is our affinity for life. That affinity nee...
The journey through another world, beyond bad dreams beyond the memories of a murdered generation, cartographed in captivity by bare survivors makes sacristans of us all. The old ones go our bail, we oblate preachers of our tribes. Be careful, they s...
Professor Charles Xavier: Heterochromia was in reference to your eyes which I have to say are stunning. One green, one blue. It's a mutation. It's a very groovy mutation. I've got news for you, Amy. You are a mutant. Co-Ed: First you proposition a gi...
Old mistakes need more friends than new truths.
