I would like to be known as an intelligent woman, a courageous woman, a loving woman, a woman who teaches by being.

Remember this: When you cross my doorstep, you have already been raised. With what you have learned...you know the difference between right and wrong. Do right. Don't anybody raise you from the way you have been raised. Know you will have to make adaptations, in love, in relationships, in friends, in society, in work, but don't let anybody change your mind.

It's so tedious writing cookbooks or writing the recipes because I've never been much of a measurer. But to write a book, you have to measure everything.

In Stamps the segregation was so complete that most Black children didn't really, absolutely know what whites looked like.

I'm a spring leaf trembling in anticipation.

I think that that's the wisest thing - to prevent illness before we try to cure something.

I can see in the acorn the oak tree. I see the growth, the rebuilding, the restoring. I see that is the American psyche. There is so much we can draw understanding from. One of the lessons is the development of courage. Because without courage, you can't practice any of the other virtues consistently.