When the feminist movement was at its zenith in the late 60's and early 70's, there was a lot of moving away from the idea of the person. It was: let's talk about the ideas behind the work, and the people matter less. It was kind of a gimmicky thing, but lots of feminist women were doing it. Many of us took the names of our female ancestors - bell hooks is my maternal great grandmother - to honor them and debunk the notion that we were these unique, exceptional women. We wanted to say, actually, we were the products of the women who'd gone before us.

Living simply makes loving simple.

The wounded heart learns self-love by first overcoming low self-esteem.

I do get a little pissed at people who write me and want me to do things, and spell my name wrong.

Remember, care is a dimension of love, but simply giving care does not mean we are loving.

Honesty and openness is always the foundation of insightful dialogue.

The greatest movement for social justice our country has ever known is the civil rights movement and it was totally rooted in a love ethic.