One day I realized I was living in a country where I was afraid to be black. It was only a country for white people. Not black. So I left. I had been….

I shall dance all my life. . . . I would like to die, breathless, spent, at the end of a dance..

A violinist had a violin, a painter his palette. All I had was myself. I was the instrument that I must care for..

We must change the system of education and instruction. Unfortunately, history has shown us that brotherhood must be learned, when it should be natur….

I did take the blows [of life], but I took them with my chin up, in dignity, because I so profoundly love and respect humanity..

I'm not intimidated by anyone. Everyone is made with two arms, two legs, a stomach and a head. Just think about that..

Art is an elastic sort of love..

I wanted to get far away from those who believed in cruelty, so then I went to France, a land of true freedom, democracy, equality and fraternity..

The secret to the fountain of youth is to think youthful thoughts..

You must get an education. You must go to school, and you must learn to protect yourself. And you must learn to protect yourself with the pen, and no….

Let us stop saying 'white Americans' and 'colored Americans,' let us try once and for all saying... Americans. Let human beings be equal on Earth as ….

I have walked into the palaces of kings and queens and into the houses of presidents. And much more. But I could not walk into a hotel in America and….

The things we truly love stay with us always, locked in our hearts as long as life remains..

You are on the eve of a complete victory. You can't go wrong. The world is behind you..

Beautiful? It's all a question of luck. I was born with good legs. As for the rest... beautiful, no. Amusing, yes..

When I was a child and they burned me out of my home, I was frightened and I ran away. Eventually I ran far away. It was to a place called France. Ma….

All my life, I have maintained that the people of the world can learn to live together in peace if they are not brought up in prejudice..

Surely the day will come when color means nothing more than the skin tone, when religion is seen uniquely as a way to speak one's soul; when birth pl….

I have never really been a great artist. I have been a human being that has loved art, which is not the same thing. But I have loved and believed in ….

I believe in prayer. It's the best way we have to draw strength from heaven..

Each time I leaped I seemed to touch the sky and when I regained earth it seemed to be mine alone..