I also wear a hat or a very tightly pulled head tie when I write. I suppose I hope by doing that I will keep my brains from seeping out of my scalp and running in great gray blobs down my neck, into my ears, and over my face.

My pride had been starched by a family who assumed unlimited authority in its own affairs.

When I want to think about what would be the right thing to do, the fair thing to do, the wise thing to do, I can just think of my grandmother. I can always hear her say, "Now sister, you know what's right. Just do right!"

You can never be great at anything unless you love it.

When I try to describe myself to God I say, 'Lord, remember me? Black? Female? Six-foot tall? The writer?' And I almost always get God's attention.

Loving someone liberates the lover as well as the beloved. And that kind of love comes with age.

The best candy shop a child can be left alone in, is the library