Proverbs at Internet Archive: Eli

This book is a combination of traditional proverbs and quotations (far more quotations than proverbs): African-American Wisdom: A Book of Quotations and Proverbs by Quinn Eli.

Quinn Eli (who is best known as a playwright) has organized the book into five general sections: Wisdom, Identity, Achievement, Humanity, and Hope.

The book is beautifully illustrated with work by African American artists (see the list of art credits in the back), and, the quotations are credited on each page. For example, here is a painting called "Expectation" by Hughie Lee-Smith, paired with two quotations.

Here are my favorites:

• When you clench your first, no one can put anything in your hand. [Alex Haley]
• It's better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret. [Jackie Joyner-Kersee]
• Don't hate: it's too big a burden to bear. [Martin Luther King, Sr.]
• You may encounter defeats, but you must not be defeated. [Maya Angelou]
• When I discover who I am, I'll be free. [Ralph Ellison]
• Everybody hears a different drummer. [Alvin Ailey]
• The price of your hat isn't the measure of your brain. [African American proverb]
• A man without knowledge of himself and his heritage is like a tree without roots. [Dick Gregory]

Here's one I made into a slide in a World Proverbs slideshow:

So, enjoy the inspiring words and all the artwork too!

African-American Wisdom:

A Book of Quotations and Proverbs

by Quinn Eli