Percival Everett Quotes

The lie felt good because I had taken control of the narrative around me.

Because we must let the whites be the ones who name the trouble.” “And why is that?” I asked. February said, “Because they need to know everything before us. Because they need to name everything.

"You sound like a physicist," she said.
"There's no need to be insulting."

-She could have some crazy ass husband or boyfriend. You know, a stupid redneck with a gun.
-That's redundant.

"When you step on the gas, do it gently, softly, slowly. Okay? All right, let's try it again. Gently. Treat it like you would a woman."
"I would never step on a woman."

To fight in a war,' he said. 'Can you imagine?'

'Would that mean facing death every day and doing what other people tell you to do?' I asked.

'I reckon.'

'Yes, Huck. I can imagine.

I'm writing the West that exists. You have to remember that Westerns are complete mythology. If you talk about the historic West, a third of the cowboys were black. The railroad was built by the Irish and the Chinese ... and black workers. All of this supported by women, all the time, and yet you can find any number of Westerns that have no women in them.

There is no God, child. There’s religion but there’s no God of theirs. Their religion tells that we will get our reward in the end. However, it apparently doesn’t say anything about their punishment. But when we’re around them, we believe in God. Oh, Lawdy Lawd, we’s be believin’. Religion is just a controlling tool they employ and adhere to when convenient.

them out or comprehending them. It was a completely private affair and completely free and, therefore, completely subversive.

No creo en ningún Dios. Es imposible sentarse aquí, tocar todas estas carpetas, leer todas las páginas y seguir creyendo en un dios.

What you’re saying is that if someone pays you enough, it’s okay to abandon what you have claimed to understand as moral and right.

hear him shouting, “But I paid two hundred dollars for you.” A man who refused to own slaves but was not opposed to others owning slaves was still a slaver, to my thinking.

If you don’t want a secret, don’t accept it.

I thought about tearing out his songs and burning them, but they would still exist. Those crackers would still sing them. Better to know they exist. Don't you think?

He could have gone through life without the knowledge I had given him and he would have been no worse off for it. But I understood at that moment that I had shared the truth with him for myself. I needed for him to have a choice.