[H]istory assures us that civilizations decay quite leisurely. – Will and Ariel Durant, Lessons of History

When I got out of acting school, I was lucky to have gotten any job at all. A lot of people hiring African American actresses – it was right after Roots, and for society, not me, it was great. Nice richly dark-skinned people was the fashion, and I was not. – Anna Deavere Smith

Noise, crowding, pollution, and the sheer rush of our complex, modern society are rapidly becoming as oppressive to many individuals as the worst kind of political dictatorship. – Thomas F. Eagleton