The Invisible Man (Narrator)

"Liberty Paints: Keep America Pure. The irony was lost on no one but me."

"I was shocked to discover that I was a man."

"The chaos of Harlem mirrored the chaos within me."

"I sought identity through ideology but found only manipulation."

"My mother's prayers followed me though I couldn't see them."

"The burden of being a spokesperson for one's entire race is unbearable."

"I had to learn the art of invisibility to survive."

"What was I after? Freedom? Identity? Purpose? All of these and none."

"The streets taught me what the university could not."

"In moments of true clarity, I understood my own complexity."

"The mask I wore became indistinguishable from my face."

"I realized that my invisibility was both curse and gift."

"To speak truth to power requires first being seen."

"I had been a puppet dancing to other men's strings."

"The voice I thought was mine had been given to me by others."

"In the basement, I found the freedom that daylight denied me."

"What does it mean to exist when no one acknowledges your existence?"

"I had confused visibility with value, presence with worth."

"The riots of Harlem were my baptism into truth."

"I am no longer ashamed of my invisibility but have embraced it."

"Perhaps visibility is not the answer but understanding one's invisibility is."

"I write these words from the darkness, but I am no longer invisible to myself."

"I am invisible, not because of any biochemical accident, but because of the peculiar disposition of the eyes of those who look at me."

"Being invisible gives one a slightly different sense of time, you're never quite on the beat."

"The mind that has no interest in anything permanent is the mind of a creature without purpose."

"I decided I was not going to be rushed into a wrong decision."

"I am not ashamed of having been a fool."

"America is woven of many strands; I would recognize them and let it so continue."

"You take my meaning: that very universality which you would have me belie by implication."

"I felt suddenly that my grandfather had placed upon us the burden of his living."