Don't let the incidents which take place in life bring you low. And certainly don't whine. You can be brought low, that's OK, but don't be reduced by them. Just say, 'That's life.'

When the storyteller tells the truth, she reminds us that human beings are more alike than unalike... A story is what it's like to be a human being-to be knocked down and to miraculously arise. Each one of us has arisen, awakened. We do rise.

When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

For Africa to me... is more than a glamorous fact. It is a historical truth. No man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he arrived at his present place.

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

Few, if any, survive their teens. Most surrender to the vague but murderous pressure of adult conformity.

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.