Of course, there are those critics - New York critics as a rule - who say, 'Well, Maya Angelou has a new book out and of course it's good but then she's a natural writer.' Those are the ones I want to grab by the throat and wrestle to the floor because it takes me forever to get it to sing. I work at the language.

We must be warriors in the struggle against ignorance

Eating is so intimate. It's very sensual. When you invite someone to sit at your table and you want to cook for them, you're inviting a person into your life.

I do hope that young men and women will start to think for themselves and start to take responsibility for their own thoughts.

Effective action is always unjust.

Give yourself time just to be with yourself.

It's a wonderful thing to know that there is something to know there is something greater than I am, and that is God itself.