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: And that's what sent you off the edge of the platform. It wasnt nothin personal.
WHITE: It is personal. That's what an education does. It makes the world personal. (26)
If an education makes the world personal, it makes the world really matter to you; the world's concerns are now your concerns. But since White now sees the world as totally dark, its bleakness becomes his own, to.
Quote #5
WHITE: Did you used to think you were God?
BLACK: No. I didnt. I didn't know what I was. But I thought I was in charge. I never knowed what that burden weighed till I put it down. That might of been the sweetest thing of all. To just hand over the keys. (52-53)
Black implies that he used to be egocentric—he was holding onto the illusion that he was in control of his own life. When he accepted that he wasn't running the show, though, it came as a relief because it lightened the responsibility to direct his life.
Quote #6
BLACK: […] I ain't a doubter. But I am a questioner.
WHITE: What's the difference?
BLACK: Well, I think the questioner wants the truth. The doubter wants to be told there aint no such thing. (67)
This is key: Black believes there is some truth, some explanation for everything—and he's curious about what this is, while also accepting a certain amount of mystery. White, however, only believes in nothing, which due to its nothingness, can't contain truth.