“I don't know how long this thing will last… We can still lose this war. That's a real clear statement. I wouldn't be a goddamned bit surprised but that we can still lose it. And then you can just write those casualties off and those ever-increasing names on those ever-increasing monuments… You can keep putting them on the monuments and giving out all this crap, all this posthumous DSCs and Purple Hearts… but there's no end to this thing.”

“Among the things you can give and still keep are your word, a smile, and a grateful heart.”

“All we can ever do is lay a word in the hands of those who have put one in ours.”

“We can do the innuendo,
We can dance and sing
And when it's said and done
We haven't told you a thing,
We all know that crap is king, give us dirty laundry.”

“Happy endings are all I can do. I wouldn't know how to write anything else.”

“The little things, I can obey. The big things—how we think, what we value—those you must choose yourself. You can't let anyone—or any society—determine those for you.”

“We had nonbelievers all along the way, and I have one thing to say to those nonbelievers: Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion!”

“I believe with all my heart that jimcrow is wicked and I know that it is a rotten core in our society. I know that we cannot say that we are a full democracy so long as jimcrow exists anywhere in our country. I will fight against it and refuse to countenance it in all was that I can, as long as I live. And yet I know that were all jimcrow laws to be abolished tomorrow, the war for the lberation of mankind would still not be won here. There would still be those not free, not equal.”

“You said, 'I love you.' Why is it that the most unoriginal thing we can say to one another is still the thing we long to hear?”

“Mistakes and omissions are one thing to correct. We will not throw away the hard rice, as long as it is still edible. We can still turn it into fried rice. But ignorance is a different matter. Those who are ignorant and unwilling to learn can no longer be corrected.”