Joe

“But if you accuse a man of something that he did not do, his behavior will be utterly unpredictable. It has the power of upsetting his entire way of life, coloring his feelings about people for a lifetime, and sowing the seeds of distrust so deep that they will grow and bear fruit for years afterwards.”
― Richard Wright, The Man Who Lived Underground

“He said the feller figgered he couldn’t let the little girl, ner any of his young’uns, come to love pretty things for they couldn’t have them. So he whipped them when they showed a liking for things they couldn’t have … and he whipped them until they learned; so that in a little while, they knowed they was not to expect them things.”
― Forrest Carter, The Education of Little Tree

“I’ve heard parents express horror at their children listening to crime stories on the radio; yet on Sunday mornings they never hesitate to send them off to Sunday school to hear the most horrific story of all. . . .)”
― Richard Wright, The Man Who Lived Underground

“When a group occasionally begin to believe they share some common interest, it soon proves a delusion.”
― Franz Kafka, The Trial