True self-esteem is realizing that you are valuable because you were born. No matter where you came from, what color your skin is, what people say about your family or what mean things people may have done to you, because you were born, you are important and you matter.

Some women have a weakness for shoes... I can go barefoot if necessary. I have a weakness for books.

Failure is a signpost to turn you in another direction.

I tried to empty myself and let the spirit of Sethe inhabit me.

I firmly believe that none of us in this world have made it until the least among us have made it.

When I was going through menopause, I didn't sleep. I didn't sleep for two years and ended up blowing out my thyroid, and I became nonfunctional. It's difficult to remain fully present if I'm not getting enough sleep, so I work at getting enough.

Books showed me there were possibilities in life, that there were actually people like me living in a world I could not only aspire to but attain. Reading gave me hope. For me, it was the open door.