I leave you love. I leave you hope. I leave you the challenge of developing confidence in one another. I leave you respect for the use of power. I leave you faith. I leave you racial dignity.

I have had more than half a century of such happiness. A great deal of worry and sorrow, too, but never a worry or a sorrow that was not offset by a purple iris, a lark, a bluebird, or a dewy morning glory.

Forgiving is not about forgetting, it's letting go of the hurt

Enter to learn; depart to serve.

When they learn of Shakespeare and Goethe, we must teach them of Pushkin and Dumas. . . . Whatever the white man has done, we have done, and often better.

I do feel, in my dreamings and yearnings, so undiscovered by those who are able to help me.

For I am my mother's daughter, and the drums of Africa still beat in my heart.