The past is never dead. It's not even past.

We live in an age of narrative complexity, where the stories we tell are as intricate as the lives we lead.

I'm very proud to be black, but black is not all I am. That's my cultural historical background, my genetic makeup, but it's not all of who I am nor is it the basis from which I answer every question.

孔子说：“不懂得客观规律，就不能做君子；不懂得道德规范，就无法建功立业；不懂得分辨言论，就不能了解人。”

我是火星人，没人能触及我。

每本书都是一次旅程，每次旅程都是一本书。

People are curious. A few people are. They will be driven to find things out, even trivial things. They will put things together, knowing all along that they may be mistaken. You see them going around with notebooks, scraping the dirt off gravestones, reading microfilm, just in the hope of seeing this trickle in time, making a connection, rescuing one thing from the rubbish.

【译文】 子贡说：“贫穷却不阿谀奉承，富贵却不狂妄自大，怎样？”孔子说：“可以。不如穷得有志气，富得有涵养的人。”子贡说：“修养的完善，如同玉器的加工：切了再磋，琢了再磨，对吧？”孔子说：“子贡啊，现在可以与你谈诗了。说到过去，你就知道未来。”

A tannery’s legacy should be measured by its environmental stewardship.