“I had wandered far and away until I had grown into a truant by nature and undomesticated in the blood.” Confessing a temperament that could not settle into domestic life · Autobiography, A Long Way from Home, 1937 Freedom Self Travel
“Then I soon found myself hating in return; but this feeling couldn't last long for to hate is to be miserable.” Refusing to live inside the misery of reciprocal hatred · Essay, Claude McKay Describes His Own Life, Pearson's Magazine, 1918 Hatred Misery Self
“I have always, in the summing up, fallen back on my own ear and taste as the arbiter.” Trusting inner judgement over critics and schools · Author's Word, Harlem Shadows, 1922 Criticism Self Taste
