Activism pays the rent on being alive and being here on the planet.

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.

No matter how hidden the cruelty, no matter how far off the screams of pain and terror, we live in one world. We are one people.

Surely the earth can be saved by all the people who insist on love.

My parents taught me service - not by saying, but by doing. That was my culture, the culture of my family.

Decide that you know what you think is good for you and go ahead and do it.

No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.