5 Quotes by Lillian E. Smith

I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within.

They are trying to hold on to a world that no longer exists. They are blind and terrified because they feel it slipping away from them. They are gripping thin air but they keep trying desperately to hold on to it - hoping the air will turn into something familiar and solid.

The human heart dares not stay away from that which hurt it most. There is a return journey to anguish that few of us are released from making.

So we learned the dance that cripples the human spirit, step by step by step, we who were white and we who were colored, day by day, hour by hour, year by year until the movements were reflexes and made for the rest of our life without thinking.

They are trying to hold on to a world that no longer exists. They are blind and terrified because they feel it slipping away from them. They are gripping thin air but they keep trying desperately to hold on to it – hoping the air will turn into something familiar and solid.