Wilton Bouse

“Zavallı insanlar makinelerde yem gibi öğütülüyor, işçi mahallelerindeki daracık izbelere hayvanlar gibi tıkılıyor, büyük işletmelerce kuralına uydurulan kölelik sayesinde, emekçi halk, milyonlarca kafa ve kol, sırf bin kadar sömürücü tembel, el bebek gül bebek yaşasın, servetlerine servet katabilsin diye, asker gibi çalıştırılıp yavaş yavaş tüketiliyordu. Ama madencinin gözü açılmıştı, toprağın dibinde ezilen cahil bir adam değildi artık. Madenocaklarının derinliklerinden bir ordu, filizlenmekte olan bir yurttaşlar ordusu fışkıracaktı; evet, tohum yeşerecek ve güneşli bir günde toprağı delip çıkacaktı. İşte o zaman, kırk yıl emek verdikten sonra öksürdükçe kömür tüküren, madenin rütubetiyle bacakları tutulmuş altmış yaşındaki bir ihtiyara, yüz elli frank emekli aylığı vermeye kalkışmak ne demekmiş göreceklerdi! Evet! Emek, kapitalizmden hesap soracaktı.”
― Émile Zola, Germinal

“It's the journey that matters, soak it in. Learn lessons out of it. Impact positively so that if you never get to your destination, at least you'd leave a legacy to be remembered.”
― Emem Uko

“Sandy”
― Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game

“Mommy’s contradictions crashed and slammed against one another like bumper cars at Coney Island. White folks, she felt, were implicitly evil toward blacks, yet she forced us to go to white schools to get the best education. Blacks could be trusted more, but anything involving blacks was probably slightly substandard. She disliked people with money yet was in constant need of it. She couldn’t stand racists of either color and had great distaste for bourgeois blacks who sought to emulate rich whites by putting on airs and “doing silly things like covering their couches with plastic and holding teacups with their pinkies out.” “What fools!” she’d hiss. She wouldn’t be bothered with parents who bragged about their children’s accomplishments, yet she insisted we strive for the highest professional goals. She was against welfare and never applied for it despite our need, but championed those who availed themselves of it.”
― James McBride, The Color of Water