A Perilous Proposal Quotes

“It was so different to be two free black young people, free to think, free to love, free to decide things for ourselves, free to become what we wanted, free to be the people we wanted to make ourselves, not what somebody else wanted us to be.”
― Michael Phillips, A Perilous Proposal

“Look here, Duff, I said, you think your life is hard, well, lots of other folks’ lives are hard too. Some of them are even harder than yours! So you quit feeling so sorry for yourself like you’ve got it so bad. You’re alive, aren’t you? You’re healthy and strong, aren’t you? You don’t have it nearly so bad as you think. No matter what you’ve been through, life can be a pretty good thing if you’ll let it.”
― Michael R. Phillips, A Perilous Proposal

“There’s a lot of angry people in the world, Jake—lots and lots of angry people. Some are angry down inside where nobody sees. Others you can tell just from looking at them. I’ve seen a lot of folks with anger inside them, Jake. It’s not pleasant to see. Anger’s not a pretty thing. It makes people miserable inside. Then there’s other folks that get sad and discouraged at all the hardships that come in their lives. Maybe they don’t get angry, but they go around being sad and miserable and letting people know it. They want people to feel sorry for them, and that’s not too pretty to see either.” “So”
― Michael R. Phillips, A Perilous Proposal

“And while nothing is as bad as slavery, we weren’t really “free,” because hatred and prejudice creates an invisible bondage of its own, just as sure as had the chains of the white masters.”
― Michael Phillips, A Perilous Proposal

“Once people’s minds are made up about a lie, it doesn’t matter what you say—you can’t make them stop believing it. Most folks’ll be convinced of a lie easier than they’ll believe the truth.”
― Michael Phillips, A Perilous Proposal

“We’re supposed to think about it. Whenever we look around us, we’re supposed to find out the meaning God put into the things we see.”
― Michael R. Phillips, A Perilous Proposal

“It’s like this, Jake . . . when life gets hard—whether you’re white or black doesn’t make any difference—folks have got a choice what to do about it.”
― Michael R. Phillips, A Perilous Proposal

“young whites that were up to no good. That Jeremiah was”
― Michael Phillips, A Perilous Proposal

“But sometimes life gets in the way of love. And sometimes being black gets in the way of how you wish life could be.”
― Michael Phillips, A Perilous Proposal

“Nothing just happens, Jake. Everything means something because God made it. You mean something. Figuring out what life means is the same as figuring out what you mean. What’s your life supposed to be about? That’s what falling in with the order of things means—living in the way God means you to live.”
― Michael Phillips, A Perilous Proposal