My Grandfather's Son Part 3

I'm sure you are enjoying reading quotes from My Grandfather's Son. Listed below are the last four chapters (7-10). Please use the link from Part 1 if you would like to order this book.

One reporter told me that good news about civil rights simply wasn't "newsworthy" during the Reagan years. p. 162

[a prayer Thomas keeps in his wallet attributed to St. Francis of Assisi] "Keep a clear eye toward life's end. Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God's creature. What you are in His sight is what you are and nothing more. Do not let worldly cares and anxieties or the pressures of office blot out the divine life within you or the voice of God's spirit guiding you in your great task of leading humanity to wholeness. If you open yourself to God and His plan printed in your heart, God will open Himself to you." p. 181

[Senator Danforth talking to Thomas before the going to the Caucus room to face the Judiciary Committee] "You'll probably think I'm strange to ask you to do this," he said kiddingly, but by then I wasn't able to see the humor in much of anything. As soon as the four [both men and the wives]of us had crowded into the bathroom, he pulled out a portable tape recorder and played us a recording of "Onward, Christian Soldiers" by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The look on his face told me that this was no joke. Virginia [Thomas's wife] and I listened intently to the hymn's long-familiar words: Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, / With the cross of Jesus going on before. / Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe; / Forward into battle see His banners go! Then Senator Danforth prayed that the day would go well, told me to go forth in the name Christ, and implored me to let the Holy Ghost speak through me. p. 233

Psalm 57 showed me the way:
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until the disaster has passed...
I am in the midst of lions;
I lie among ravenous beasts-
men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
They spread a net for my feet-
I was bowed down in distress.
They dug a pit in my path-
but they have fallen into it themselves. p. 237

[The oath Thomas takes to become an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court] "Then repeat after me: I, Clarence Thomas, do solemnly swear that I will administer justice without respect to person, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all of the duties incumbent upon me as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States under the Constitution and laws of the United States. So help me God." p. 287

Wow, what an enjoyable book to read!