When asked how she knows when her writing is where she wants it to be: "I know when it's the best I can do. It may not be the best there is. Another writer may do it much better. But I know when it's the best I can do. I know that one of the great arts that the writer develops is the art of saying, 'No. No, I'm finished. Bye.' And leaving it alone. I will not write it into the ground. I will not write the life out of it. I won't do that."

I speak to the black experience, but I am always talking about the human condition.

I know that I'm not the easiest person to live with. The challenge I put on myself is so great that the person I live with feels himself challenged. I bring a lot to bear, and I don't know how not to.

I walk into a room Just as cool as you please, And to a man, The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees.

Each of us has the power and responsibility to become a rainbow in the clouds.

If funkytown was a trailerpark, this guy would be a double-wide.

Your life is much more important that you can imagine... it is your first treasure.