We both grew up in the atmosphere of struggle, both Ossie and me, ... I come out of Harlem and Harlem comes out of me - wailing police sirens and street parties, rumors and landlords, that cultural, spiritual scene. And Ossie came up from the South, where struggle and dying were part of everyday life. That is who we are.

You have to learn how to be married. You have to learn to love somebody.

The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from within - strength, courage, dignity.

Classism and greed are making insignificant all the other kinds of isms.

God, make me so uncomfortable that I will do the very thing I fear.

The greatest gift is not being afraid to question.

I never thought about myself as an activist when we were coming along. I wasn't a joiner. You know, I love the people I love. I didn't care whether - they could be a Democrat, Republican, communist, you know, and anything but a racist.