You don't have to tell everything you know, but let what you do say be the truth as you understand it.

Don't get older just to get wiser. If you get older, you will be wiser, I believe that - if you dare. But get older because it's fun!

First best is falling in love. Second best is being in love. Least best is falling out of love. But any of it is better than never having been in love.

If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult.

Ain't nothin' to it, but to do it.

We are all creative, but by the time we are three of four years old, someone has knocked the creativity out of us. Some people shut up the kids who start to tell stories. Kids dance in their cribs, but someone will insist they sit still. By the time the creative people are ten or twelve, they want to be like everyone else.

Don't face the day until you've faced God.