We are the victims of the world's most comprehensive robbery. Life demands a balance. It's all right if we do a little robbing now.

Life offers us tickets to places which we have not knowingly asked for.

If our children are to approve of themselves, they must see that we approve of ourselves.

My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy.

To be angry is very good. It burns out things and leaves nutrients in the soil. You should always be ready to be angry at injustice and cruelty.

I write because I am a Black woman, listening attentively to her people.

Not everything you do is going to be a masterpiece, but you get art there and you try and sometimes it really happens. The other times you’re just stretching your soul.