He beat me like he beat the children. Cept he don't never hardly beat them. He say, Celie, git the belt. The children be outside the room peeking through the cracks. It all I can do not to cry. I make myself wood. I say to myself, Celie, you a tree. That's how come I know trees fear man.

A burnt finger remember the fire.

I'm sure we, the American people, are the butt of jokes by those in power.

We have elders who [are] misguided and wallowing around in troughs of money with the wrong sort. They're not really good elders for the youth to emulate. The youth rightly don't like them.

My ancestors make up the skin of the world. That's who that is. That's what that is. That's us.

Sexuality is one of the ways that we become enlightened, actually, because it leads us to self-knowledge.

If you want to have a life that is worth living, a life that expresses your deepest feelings and emotions, and cares and dreams, you have to fight for it.