Because of technological breakthroughs, the society will need fewer and fewer unskilled laborers.

Each of us has that right, that possibility, to invent ourselves daily.

I know for sure that love saves me and that it is here to save us all.

Of course, there are those critics - New York critics as a rule - who say, 'Well, Maya Angelou has a new book out and of course it's good but then she's a natural writer.' Those are the ones I want to grab by the throat and wrestle to the floor because it takes me forever to get it to sing. I work at the language.

The more you know of your history, the more liberated you are.

You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it's all right.

Human beings are more alike than unalike. Whether in Paris, Texas, or Paris, France, we all want to have good jobs where we are needed and respected and paid just a little more than we deserve. We want healthy children, safe streets, to be loved and have the unmitigated gall to accept love. If we are religious, we want a place to perpetuate God. If not, we want a good lecture every once in a while. And everyone wants someplace to party on Saturday nights.