I went back two weeks running, then three months after, just to be sure, and then a year after that. So punctual are they that they have trained the … - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

"Many of the people I write about were deliberately left out of the history books that we were forced to read in school. For me, that history was "written wrong" and needed to be corrected. My intention was to make them visible so they could be role models for others. To show how each, in his or her own way, dribbled gracefully around that obstacle in the narrow corridor."

It was my first time away from home, my first experience in an all-black situation, and I found myself being punished for everything I'd ever been taught was right. I got all A's and was hated for it; I spoke correctly and was called a punk. I had to learn a new language simply to deal with the threats. I had good manners, and was a good little boy and paid for it with my hide.

The foolish will tread where the wise will not,” Holmes replied. “If we waited for the wisdom of this venture, Douglas and I would still be in London.” “To fools, then!” Little Huan exclaimed. “To fools!” the others declared.