The difference between charity and philanthropy is the distance of the soul... To be philanthropic is to give something, to be charitable is to give one's own heart.

My greatest blessing has been the birth of my son. My next greatest blessing has been my ability to turn people into children of mine.

Whining is just unbecoming.

The main thing in one's own private world is to try to laugh as much as you cry.

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. Please remember that your difficulties do not define you. They simply strengthen your ability to overcome.

When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.

Oh, Black known and unknown poets, how often have your auctioned pains sustained us? Who will compute the lonely nights made less lonely by your songs, or by the empty pots made less tragic by your tales? If we were a people much given to revealing secrets, we might raise monuments and sacrifice to the memories of our poets, but slavery cured us of that weakness.