“I tried to decide just how I should respond to them. Whether I should act like the teacher that I was, or like the nigger that I was supposed to be.” — Ernest J. Gaines Copy Share Image
“Well, in San Francisco if someone's against you, they know how to vote you out of an area. If someone's against you in Louisiana,… — Ernest J. Gaines Copy Share Image
“That's man's way. To prove something. Day in, day out he must prove he is a man. Poor Fool.” — Ernest J. Gaines Copy Share Image
“Do I know what a man is ? Do I know how a man is supposed to die ? I’m still trying to find… — Ernest J. Gaines Copy Share Image
“I had heard the same carols all my life, seen the same little play, with the same mistakes in grammar. The minister had offered… — Ernest J. Gaines Copy Share Image
“Writing is too goddamned hard for me to think about a soul in teh world ... I don't think about a soul, but just… — Ernest J. Gaines Copy Share Image
“Irene and my aunt want from me what Miss Emma wants from Jefferson,' I said. 'I don't know if Miss Emma ever had anybody… — Ernest J. Gaines Copy Share Image
“For the next half hour it continued. Dr. Joseph would call on someone who looked half bright, then he would call on someone whom… — Ernest J. Gaines Copy Share Image
“Jefferson needs something in that cell,” I said. “Yes, he do,” the minister said. “You hit the nail on the head, mister. Yes, he… — Ernest J. Gaines Copy Share Image
“Then he spoke of James Joyce. He told about Joyce’s family, his religion, his education, his writing. He spoke of a book called Dubliners… — Ernest J. Gaines Copy Share Image
“He had told us then that most of us would die violently, and those who did not would be brought down to the level… — Ernest J. Gaines Copy Share Image
“I think it's God that makes people care for people, Jefferson. I think it's God makes children play and people sing. I believe it's… — Ernest J. Gaines Copy Share Image
“I tried to decide just how I should respond to them. Whether I should act like the teacher that I was, or like the… — Ernest J. Gaines Copy Share Image
“We've only been living in these ghettos for seventy-five years or so, but the other three hundred years -- I think this is worth… — Ernest J. Gaines Copy Share Image
“I don't care what a man is. I mean, a great artist is like a great doctor. I don't care how racist he is.… — Ernest J. Gaines Copy Share Image
