In my time and neighborhood (and in my soul) there was only one standard by which a woman measured success: did some man want her?

There are two barriers that often prevent communication between the young and their elders. The first is middle-aged forgetfulness of the fact that they themselves are no longer young. The second is youthful ignorance of the fact that the middle aged are still alive.

The conversation of two people remembering, if the memory is enjoyable to both, rocks on like music or lovemaking. There is a rhythm and a predictability to it that each anticipates and relishes.

Teaching is the royal road to learning.

Nothing is so dear as what you're about to leave.

I am always jumping into the sausage grinder and deciding, even before I’m half ground, that I don’t want to be a sausage after all.

A religious awakening which does not awaken the sleeper to love has roused him in vain.