I don't want people running around saying Gwen Brooks's work is intellectual. That makes people think instantly about obscurity. It shouldn't have to mean that, but it often seems to.

Be careful what you swallow. Chew!

It is brave to be involved. To be not fearful to be unresolved.

I believe we should all know each other, we human carriers of so many pleasurable differences. To not know is to doubt, to shrink from, sidestep or destroy.

Truth-tellers are not always palatable. There is a preference for candy bars.

Goodness begins simply with the fact of life itself.

I don't like the idea of the black race being diluted out of existence. I like the idea of all of us being here.