How we cite our quotes: In consultation with my editor, we decided (against standard practice) to go with page numbers—since The Sunset Limited is one long act and it would be unwieldy and impractical to number all the lines.
Quote #4
BLACK: Belief aint like unbelief. If you a believer then you got to come finally to the well of belief itself and then you dont have to look no further. There aint no further. But the unbeliever has got a problem. He has set out to unravel the world, but everything he can point to that aint true leaves two new things layin there. If God walked the earth when he got done makin it then when you get up in the morning you get to put your feet on a real floor and you dont have to worry about where it come from. But if he didnt then you got to come up with a whole other description of what you even mean by real. And you got to judge everything by that same light. If light it is. Includin yourself. One question fits all. So what do you think, Professor? Is you real? (65-66)
What do you think the "well of belief" is? It's probably God himself, in a sense, since God is the focus of belief, the source it comes from and wants to return to. From this angle, you'd be having some direct contact with God if you actually reached that well.
Quote #5
WHITE: What is it you would disagree with?
BLACK: Maybe the notion of original sin. When Eve eat the apple and it turned everybody bad. I dont see people that way. I think for the most part people are good to start with. I think evil is somethin you bring on your own self. Mostly from wantin what you aint supposed to have. But I aint goin to sit here and tell you about me bein a heretic when I'm tryin to get you to quit bein one. (66-67)
Black explains one of his heresies: He doesn't believe that people are bad at their root, but that they get corrupted. Goodness might not be something you learn, but evil probably is.
Quote #6
BLACK: […] The whole point of where this is goin—which you wanted to know—is that they aint no jews. Aint no whites. Aint no n*****s. People of color. Aint none of that. At the deep bottom of the mine where the gold is at there aint none of that. There's just the pure ore. That forever thing. That you dont think is there. That thing that helps to keep folks nailed down to the platform when the Sunset Limited comes through. Even when they think they might want to get aboard. That thing that makes it possible to ladle out benedictions upon the heads of strangers instead of curses. It's all the same thing. And it aint but one thing. Just one. (95)
This is one of Black's biggest speeches. He thinks that what we are externally—our races, genders, class backgrounds—doesn't make up who we really are. When you get down to it, there's a shared humanity amongst us.