“Human beings, like plants, grow in the soil of acceptance, not in the atmosphere of rejection”

“Woe to the thinker who is not the gardener but only the soil of the plants that grow in him!”

“Persons of genius, it is true, are, and are always likely to be, a small minority; but in order to have them, it is necessary to preserve the soil in which they grow. Genius can only breathe freely in an atmosphere of freedom.”

“The richest soil that was ever prepared would not grow a single blade of grass or the tiniest Weed if that soil were absolutely dry. …There must be water in the soil to dissolve out and transfer its elements in order that the rootlets of the plant shall be able to make the slightest use of these elements. …But …a plant may grow and thrive for a time quite without the presence of soil if its roots are placed in water. … some of the richest soils in the world are those that are absolutely barren and fully merit the designation of desert lands because water is lacking”

“The American flag has not been planted on foreign soil to acquire more territory but for humanity's sake.”

“I'm like the farmer, planting words, people are seeds/ My truth is the soil, help you grow like trees/ May the children come in all colors, change like leaves/ Behold before you, one of those prophetic MC's.”

“I was afraid of being rejected, yes. I was also afraid of being accepted for the wrong reasons.”

“You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.”

“You cannot plant greatness as you plant yams or maize. Who ever planted an iroko tree — the greatest tree in the forest? You may collect all the iroko seeds in the world, open the soil and put them there. It will be in vain. The great tree chooses where to grow and we find it there, so it is with the greatness in men.”

“Fear is a strange soil. It grows obedience like corn, which grow in straight lines to make weeding easier. But sometimes it grows the potatoes of defiance, which flourish underground.”