“Hurricane Katrina didn't just knock a few bricks from the fabric of a levee. More importantly, it knocked a few bricks also from the notion that America is a shining beacon of hope for a troubled world.
It isn't. It's a house of straw. With no education to glue that straw together.”

“America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining.”

“A heap of bricks is not yet a house.”

“I've had the wind knocked out of me, but never the hurricane”

“You can't blame a match for a house made of straw”

“In our land the educated poor, who at the most can only cycle or take short railway journeys into the country from an adjoining town, are fast losing their rightful heritage — the beauty of the country-side, which is rapidly disappearing with very little benefit to anyone. Apparently nobody but a few timid adherents of the Archeological Society cares a straw.”

“There are also half bricks. …As the bricks are always laid so as to break joints, this lends strength and a not unattractive appearance to both sides of such walls.”

“Whatever may be said in favour of the Victorians, it is pretty generally admitted that few of them were to be trusted within reach of a trowel and a pile of bricks.”

“Most scripts are bad. I read a lot of them. Brick was a good script just to read. It was like, “Oh my God, these words feel so good in my mouth.” A lot of movies try to set up a world with cool sets, costumes, camera work. In Brick, the world is born from the words.”

“We have a saying: “A single straw of a broom can be broken easily, but the straws together are not easily broken.” So here are three things African women can do to support their sisters and daughters:”