The whites were really brutishly ignorant, blitheringly, so they killed people sometimes - just came into the African-American community and maimed people because they didn't agree with God's choice for the colors of the people's skin.

In so many ways, segregation shaped me, and education liberated me.

As far as I knew white women were never lonely, except in books. White men adored them, Black men desired them and Black women worked for them.

If I'm here, I'll be trying to be a better human being, a better writer, a better friend and a better beloved.

Seek patience and passion in equal amounts. Patience alone will not build the temple. Passion alone will destroy its walls.

I've never had a dislike for men. I've been badly treated by some. But I've been loved greatly by some. I married a lot of them.

I love wisdom. And you can never be great at anything unless you love it. Not be in love with it, but love the thing, admire the thing. And it seems that if you love the thing, and you don't just want to possess it, it will find you.