Yet it is only love which sets us free.

Women should be tough, tender, laugh as much as possible, and live long lives.

If a person - any human being - is told often enough, "You are nothing. You are nothing. You account for nothing. You count for nothing. You are less than a human being. I have no visibility of you", the person finally begins to believe it.

Soft you day, be velvet soft, My true love approaches, Look you bright, you dusty sun, Array your golden coaches. Soft you wind, be soft as silk My true love is speaking. Hold you birds, your silver throats, His golden voice I'm seeking. Come you death, in haste, do come My shroud of black be weaving, Quiet my heart, be deathly quiet, My true love is leaving.

You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies. You may trod me in the very dirt, but still like dust, I'll rise.

There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.

If I'm the people's poet, then I ought to be in people's hands - and, I hope, in their heart.