Percival Everett Quotes

the Bible itself was the least interesting of all. I could not enter it, did not want to enter it, and then understood that I recognized it as a tool of my enemy.

dull tools are much more dangerous than sharp ones.

saw the surface of her, merely the outer shell, and realized that she was mere surface all the way to her core.

These white men scared me. They scared me because they weren’t invested in my being afraid of them.

Just keep living,” I said. “Just remember, once they see you, or see me in you, you’ve been seen. I know you don’t understand. But you will one day.

I was just lucky enough to find a truck with the black-power flag already on it.

"What a fuckin' mess. A goddamn clusterfuck".
"Chief, is clusterfuck one word or two?" Jethro asked.
"What?"
"Never mind".
"Get back to the goddamn station".
"Yessir".

strange a world, how strange an existence, that one’s equal must argue for one’s equality, that one’s equal must hold a station that allows airing of that argument, that one cannot make that argument for oneself, that premises of said argument must be vetted by those equals who do not agree. My chills returned and I thought again

Did state troopers shift their pistols from hip to hip to avoid becoming lopsided?

the fact that I might be wanted for kidnapping and murder and I’m a slave. A slave can’t buy a

I really loved your mother. I was sad when she didn’t come back, but, like I said, I understood and still think it was for the best. For her at least. It really fucked you up. Not so badly as I might have guessed, though. I mean, you’ve grown up to be successful and well adjusted and, of course, unhappy, the way a man is supposed to feel in this world. Just pulling your leg, son.

As I fell asleep, I knew I would dream, and I dreamed first that I knew why I dreamed, why humans dream. We dream, quite simply, so we know we're not dead.

had already come to understand the tidiness of lies, the lesson learned from the stories told by white people seeking to justify my circumstance.

Goddamnit, I hate murder more than just about anything,” said Sheriff Red Jetty. “It can just ruin a day.

He wondered if a man actively seeking to surrender could be captured.