the problem with knowing is that it takes away the possibility of pretending!

When you're young, there's a whole lot of stuff you say you'll never do. Once you get a little older, the list tends to get shorter.

Loneliness is black coffee and late-night television; solitude is herb tea and soft music. Solitude, quality solitude, is an assertion of self-worth, because only in the stillness can we hear the truth of our own unique voices.

...no woman can love a weak man hard enough to make him strong.

the problem with knowing is that it takes away the possibility of pretending!

You can't save a person who doesn't want to be saved. It was like Mr. Eddie always told the new gardeners: Everybody's got to kill their own snakes.

It is a dangerous time to be a black woman in America. It’s a time when we are not safe in the streets or at home or at school or at work and nobody seems to be able to do anything about it. Nobody. Not us. Not our mommas. Not the police. Not the people we elected to look out for our interests. Nobody. We’re just out here. (p.53)