"It was 1943. The U.S. had already entered World War II, so I decided to join the army."

“And for our unparalleled ingratitude to that Adorable Being Who has seated us in a land irradiated by the cheering beams of the Gospel of Jesus Christ ... let us fall prostrate before offended Deity, confess sincerely and penitently our manifold sins and our unworthiness of the least of His Divine favors, fervently implore His pardon through the merits of our mediator.”

“How can you have this reference point, this stability, that is required to maintain the continuity of selves day after day?”

“If you could only see the vision I have. I wish I had your bodies to do this work. I would run from house to house telling everyone of the gospel, and after I lost strength to run I would begin to walk, and after I collapsed from walking, I would begin to crawl, and after my knees were so bloody that I could not use them I would use my arms to drag myself, and once my muscle in my body was gone I would begin to yell…oh, only if you could see the vision as I have.”

“Trying is always enough.”

“Nothing that is can pause or stay; / The moon will wax, the moon will wane, / The mist and cloud will turn to rain, / The rain to mist and cloud again, / Tomorrow be today.”

“The less I talk about being black, the better.”

Source : "From Space to South Africa: Idris Elba on Prometheus and Playing Mandela". Interview with Jada Yuan, www.vulture.com. May 27, 2012.

“Night with her train of stars And her great gift of sleep.”

Source : Robert Louis Stevenson, Lloyd Osbourne, Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson, William Ernest Henley, Sir Graham Balfour (1903). “The amateur emigrant. Across the plains. The silverado squatters”

“I have in the past declared that in order to achieve a real, just and durable peace, I would be willing to make painful compromises. But we cannot make any compromise on the security of our citizens and their right to live without the threat of terrorism and violence.”